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How is the new ‘Omicron’ COVID variant pronounced? No one knows.


Health experts, world leaders, and news anchors have all been flubbing the pronunciation of Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variantOn Nov. 26, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, a COVID technical lead at the World Health Organization, announced to the world the newest COVID-19 variant and pronounced it “Oh-my-kraan.” 

Three days later, President Joe Biden gave a briefing on the new variant alongside Dr. Anthony Fauci and Vice President Kamala Harris and called it “ah-me-cron.” 

Late-night television program The Daily Show posted a Youtube clip up with this caption: What makes the Omicron variant so dangerous is that nobody knows how tf to say it.”

The video included clips of news anchors, members of the public, and the president mispronouncing the name.

Even Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is split on the issue. It offers two pronunciation options: “ˈä-mə-ˌkrän” as the American English pronunciation and “ō-ˈmī-(ˌ)krän” as the British English pronunciation. 

To add to the shenanigans, Twitter users have jokingly called the new variant “Omarion” after the former lead singer of the group B2K.

https://twitter.com/aura_of_gold/status/1465556026917376000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1465556026917376000%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.revolt.tv%2Fnews%2F2021%2F11%2F30%2F22809652%2Fblack-twitter-reacts-omarion-covid-19-variant

While the world learns to pronounce Omicron, we have settled on “ah-muh-kraan” at Straight Arrow News. 

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JIMMIE JOHNSON: HEALTH EXPERTS, WORLD LEADERS, AND NEWS ANCHORS ALL FLUBBING HOW TO SAY THE LATEST COVID-19 VARIANT. 

DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE: “Today, we are announcing B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern named (Oh-my-kraan) Omicron”

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: “It’s called the (ah-me-cron) Omicron.”> 

NEWS ANCHORS: “This new auh-muh-oh-my-cron variant. Oh-Moh-Mi-Cron. The rapidly spreading Oh-My-Cron variant.” 

JIMMIE: DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE OMICRON?

EVEN MERRIAM- WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY IS CONFUSED. 

THEY OFFER TWO PRONUNCIATIONS AN AMERICAN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AND A BRITISH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. 

I’VE EVEN SEEN PEOPLE ON TWITTER JOKINGLY CALLING IT OMARION. 

IT’S THE NAME OF THE FORMER LEAD SINGER OF THE GROUP B-2-K. 

BUT ON A SERIOUS NOTE, THIS VARIANT HAS BEEN A CAUSE OF CONCERN FOR HEALTH EXPERTS TASKED WITH TRYING TO TRACK AND SLOW THE SPREAD OF COVID GLOBALLY. 

I FIRST REPORTED HOW THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECIDED ON ITS NAME AND OTHER VARIANTS. 

YOU CAN CHECK OUT THAT REPORT BY SEARCHING “AH-MUH-KRAAN” OMICRON ON OUR WEBSITE. 

SO BACK TO OUR INITIAL QUESTION, SETTLING ON A COMMON PRONUNCIATION. 

AS A NEWS ORGANIZATION, WE’VE DECIDED TO GO WITH AH-MUH-KRAAN AND WE’RE GOING TO STICK WITH THAT UNTIL AN OFFICIAL DETERMINATION IS MADE. 

HOW ARE YOU PRONOUNCING IT? AH-MUH-KRAAN, OH-MUH-KRAAN OR OMARION? 

LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.