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Today, I was taking a look at how to pronounce the name WD-40.

A quick google search dropped me here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8SwN_qw3AA

My Spanish ear is very new to the English language, but I can assure you I heard "double D forty" instead of "double-U-D-Forty", and I'm very confused.

Which one is correct?

Tomás
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    As a native speaker, all of the examples in the video were saying double-U D forty. I've never heard anyone call it double-D forty. – KillingTime Mar 21 '22 at 21:46
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    I more frequently hear the five-syllable pronunciation as "dubyuh-dee-forty." In some parts of the U.S. (such as Texas), "dubyuh" is a very common way to pronounce "W." – Sven Yargs Mar 21 '22 at 21:47
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    That solves a lot of mysteries, as I'm currently in Texas vacationing and my ear needs to work harder to understand locals. Also, when “W” is pronounced alone, it sounds as “double-U” and that “U” sounds like “you” sound. It's easy for me to distinguish it. But when it's put along “WD-40” somehow that “you” sound disappears. – Tomás Mar 21 '22 at 21:53
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    It's "dubyuh-dee-forty". That's clearly what is being said in the video. – Hot Licks Mar 21 '22 at 21:53
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    @Tomás: As you may know, former Texas governor (and U.S. president) George W. Bush was nicknamed 'Dubya'; I believe that the nickname arose because people in Texas used the designation 'W' to distinguish him (George W. Bush) from his father (George H.W. Bush). – Sven Yargs Mar 21 '22 at 22:12
  • @SvenYargs you gonna take a whack at it? Seems like you could write this off the top of your head... It's kinda like Jimmy Carter and 'nucular" – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 21 '22 at 22:30
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    @HotLicks I am almost as old as you, and from the east coast, but I always heard it " "dubyuh-dee-forty""...I think this Q has possibilities. Can we vote to re-open? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 21 '22 at 22:36
  • @Cascabel: By all means, take a shot at answering it if you feel the spirit. I avoid trying to put together formal answers to pronunciation questions because my knowledge is essentially anecdotal, but several EL&U regulars here (including Peter Shor, Araucaria, tchrist, and herisson) are experts who know this area cold. – Sven Yargs Mar 21 '22 at 22:43
  • @SvenYargs Thank you for quick response...for me, part of Linguistics is the ability to identify origin of speaker by peculiarity of syntax and accent. I thought this Q had potential. For some reason it is attracting DVs – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 21 '22 at 22:49
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    It's not clear to me what research Tomás should have done that he didn't do. – Sven Yargs Mar 21 '22 at 23:06
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    @d'accord...gonna open up a new thread on EL&U.SE.meta – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 21 '22 at 23:11
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    Consider amending the title. At the moment, it seems to be stating something false, and that tends to attract votes to close. Perhaps something like the following would be clearer: “Where did the third syllable of the letter W in WD-40 go?” – Lawrence Mar 22 '22 at 07:29
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    I’m voting to close this question because it seems to be based on a false premise. Partial omission of syllables is quite common in speech, more obviously in the US than the UK. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 22 '22 at 11:21
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    @Edwin: I'm not so sure it's more common in the U.S. We certainly leave syllables out of different words, and you may only notice American speakers doing it because you're so used to the syllables left out in the U.K. For example, you leave out the third syllable of military, which we almost always pronounce it with four syllables. – Peter Shor Mar 22 '22 at 12:44
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    The word "you" is also reduced to "ya". – Laurel Mar 22 '22 at 13:41
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    @EdwinAshworth: More obviously in the US if you're British, perhaps. Another false premise. – Robusto Mar 22 '22 at 13:53
  • @Peter I use the half-schwa. I'm thinking of the second syllable of bicycle, or the third syllable of philosophy, the second/third syllables of laboratory ... caramel, mayonnaise. I'm not sure if the US and Canadian pronunciations of Toronto match. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 22 '22 at 15:04
  • ... I'm not sure any of the 'extra schwa' alternatives possible with the words listed in the NTU article here would be the typical US pronunciations. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 22 '22 at 15:53
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    A false premise, while extremely annoying to those who know the truth, is not grounds for closure. That is exactly the time to provide an correction. The questioner doesn't know what's right, that's why they're here. – Mitch Mar 22 '22 at 17:47
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    @Mitch de acuerdo...I have voted to re-open twice – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 22 '22 at 19:12
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    @PeterShor: There's also laboratory, for which Americans omit the first o but Brits omit the second o. – Dan Mar 22 '22 at 21:04
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    @Dan: W.H. Auden's poem "Tell Me the Truth About Love" has a whole host of words that need British pronunciations for it to scan: temperance with 2 syllables, military with 3 syllables, extraordinary with 4 syllables, patriotism with 4 syllables, courteous with 2 syllables. All of these typically have one extra syllable in American English. – Peter Shor Mar 22 '22 at 23:01
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    I hope that these comments don't vanish. I find them very informative and intriguing. – Sven Yargs Mar 23 '22 at 00:08
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    @SvenYargs The only way we can preserve these pertinent comments is to create a Wiki answer...it is another form of footnoting good Qs...when I have more energy I will post one. Right now I am happy that it is still open. It has been a job, let me tell you! – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 23 '22 at 00:42
  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – tchrist Mar 23 '22 at 04:29
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    ... or not. Here in Bellingham WA there is a nice university, one of the second-tier state universities, named Western Washington University. Of course, its initials are WWU, which, while only 3 letters long, is nevertheless 7 syllables long (DUB-ul-you-DUB-ul-you YOU), with multiple opportunities for creative pronunciation. After all, abbreviations are sposta abbreviate. Students pronounce WWU as "Western", which is reasonable; I always call it /wuwu/. – John Lawler Mar 28 '22 at 17:21

5 Answers5

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English speakers commonly leave out unaccented syllables in certain words. "Double you" is one of them, at least in the U.S. Look at Merriam-Webster's pronunciation of this word. They give double-you /ˈdʌbəlˌju/ , dubba-you /ˈdʌbəˌju/ , dub-you /ˈdʌb.ju/, or dub-ya /ˈdʌb.jə/. The speaker in the video is saying dub-you D forty and not double D forty. All these pronunciations are correct.

There are many other words where we leave out unaccented syllables, particularly when we're speaking fast. A few examples: comfortable also gets pronounced comfterble, probably is also pronounced probly, and interesting can be pronounced intresting.

Peter Shor
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    I once had a girlfriend who insisted on pronouncing "W&L," short for "Washington and Lee [University]," as double-you and ell. I pointed out to her that if you pronounce it that way it's not actually shorter than saying "Washington and Lee," at which point she finally relented and started saying "dubyanell" like everyone else. In the 90s is was quite common for people, perhaps unwittingly, to speak only two thirds of "double-you double-you double-you" in URLs. Then I moved to Amsterdam in 1999 where it's /ʋe ʋe ʋe/. So much easier! – phoog Mar 23 '22 at 11:45
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    Sadly, "www" is many more syllables than "world wide web", – Ethan Bolker Mar 23 '22 at 12:51
  • @phoog on rare occasions I've heard "triple-double-you". – SQB Mar 23 '22 at 14:49
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    @SQB I've heard and adopted "dub-dub-dub" – TylerW Mar 23 '22 at 15:09
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    @SQB which makes sextuple-you :-) – Michel de Ruiter Mar 23 '22 at 15:11
  • @TylerW I make all my websites redirect away from www to spare others the trouble. – Dev Mar 23 '22 at 20:21
  • Lol I just realized that I've been dropping the L for so long that I had quite forgotten it's supposed to be double. I see it as dubba-you. – Joshua Mar 24 '22 at 16:32
  • Speaking Southeastern AmE, I often say "Flor'da", instead of "Florida", and I think this is at least somewhat common. – Panzercrisis Mar 25 '22 at 02:30
  • @MicheldeRuiter Doubling something three times is multiplying by 2³ = 8, so octuple-him. – cjs Mar 25 '22 at 05:07
  • The politician George W. Bush has a nickname "Dubya"; in link there are sources saying it is a pronunciation of his middle initial W. Edit: Oh, this was already in a comment below the question (not this answer). – Jeppe Stig Nielsen Mar 25 '22 at 09:27
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    Everyone says dubya for the Bush thing regardless of whether they pronounce W-D 40 double you. – Lambie Mar 25 '22 at 16:22
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There are different pronunciations in that video.

  1. (blue shirt guy) so take a company like dub-el-you-dee-for-dee
  2. (older man) a comment like "at dub-a-you-dee-for-dee there are no mistakes"
  3. (x-ray voiceover) injectable synthetic lubricant shots like dub-you-dee-for-dee for their knee
  4. (seated man) you know why it's called dub-a-you-dee-for-dee, right?
  5. (grey bearded man) you know dub-a-you-dee-for-dee, the lubricant that everybody uses

If you slow it down to quarter speed, you should be able to hear the differences. Three of them were typical (#2, 4, & 5), one was more precise than usual (#1), the other was less precise than usual (#3). All sound fine to a native ear.

So the first three are precise, normal, then less precise than normal, and the last two are both normal.

CJ Dennis
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    The transcriptions in this answer give the false impression that the pronunciation of the letter D is identical to that of the second syllable of forty. Both the consonant and the vowel are different, especially the consonant. I don't have a suggestion for a better transcription short of using IPA, but the difference ought to be noted. – phoog Mar 23 '22 at 12:02
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Where did the third syllable of the letter W in WD-40 go?

My Spanish ear...

It went to the same place as the "doble" of the letter W in the car brand "BMW" in Spanish did!

In a similar way that Spanish speakers say "B M V" instead of "B M doble V", English speakers shorten "double you" to "dubbleyu" (or "dubya" in certain places in the USA) when pronouncing the letter W along with other letters, like in "WD-40", "WWW", or "WI meeting".

Aaron F
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  • This is possibly regional. Here in Central America we call that car a "Bay Emmy"...I am not putting the IPA coz it looks like you are not familiar with it. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 29 '22 at 20:01
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    @Cascabel_StandWithUkraine that's interesting, I didn't know that (I'm not surprised though, as Spanish speakers south of about 39° north tend to cut off the ends of words when speaking ;-) ) Similarly, in British English, a slang name for that car was "Beamer", which confused me when I first heard it because there used to be a British car company called "BMA". – Aaron F Mar 29 '22 at 20:40
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    Absolutely...I used to work at an Institute called "British Language Centre"...but everyone in Guate called it "the British"...I think your mention of "below the latitude" was observant – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 29 '22 at 20:45
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    @Cascabel_StandWithUkraine classic! :-D When I first moved to Spain I was surprised to hear that they called the band "The Rolling Stones" Los Rolling :-) – Aaron F Mar 29 '22 at 20:46
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This happens for prosodic reasons. English is a "stress-timed" language, that is, one in which stressed syllables are roughly equally spaced. This means that the prosody of a phrase (that is, the rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables) may cause the pronunciation of the syllables to change to fit the rhythm.

The more unstressed syllables one needs to articulate in a row, the faster they have to be articulated, and this may require more nimbleness from the tongue than the speaker is willing to supply. For example:

  • "double you" (as in "I will double you, not him") has just one unstressed syllable between the stresses, and so "you" takes its full value /juː/.
  • "double-you dee" (as in "Hamilton's initials are W. D."), has two unstressed syllables, and so "you" may get reduced to /jə/ to fit in the available time.
  • "double-you-dee forty" (as in "WD-40") has three unstressed syllables, and so one of them may need be dropped to make room for the others. The most likely one to be dropped is the "-le" in "double", which was reduced to begin with, resulting in /'dəbjədi/.
Gareth Rees
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The correct pronunciation is "double-you dee forty". Anything else is just someone talking fast or with a specific regional dialect (such as in Texas, USA, where people often say "dubya" for "double-you").

I often work with chemicals, and if someone told me to order some "double D forty", I would ask for clarity before placing an order. And if they want to order a "forty double D", I would happily point them to Victoria's Secret.

Colloquially, people use all sorts of shortened forms of words, and often mispronounce words, but I assure you the correct and accepted pronunciation of the water displacing chemical formula WD-40 is "double-you dee forty".

End Anti-Semitic Hate
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    Upvoted for Victoria's Secret. I'll never look at WD-40 again with the same eyes! ;-) – Peter - Reinstate Monica Mar 23 '22 at 10:43
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    Had I the requisite reputation on this site, I would downvote this answer because it seems to assert, in multiple places, that there is one, true correct way to pronounce a word, and that any other pronunciation (due to regional differences or rate of speech) is incorrect or a mispronunciation. "Dub-ya-dee forty" is not an incorrect pronunciation---it is a perfectly correct pronunciation of the brand in large parts of the US. Yes, it is regional. No, that does not make it wrong –  Mar 23 '22 at 16:22
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    I am sorry, but this seems to be a prescriptivist answer based on a narrow field (i.e. Chemistry). It has little to do with the common pronunciation of the consumer product and household oil... and so does not not answer the question... – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 24 '22 at 22:57
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    LOL... show me a dictionary that wasn't written as a joke that claims the preferred pronunciation of the letter W is "double D" or even "dubya". Show me a well-regarded English test that is not intended as a joke where either of those is an accepted pronunciation. Y'all are confusin' "spoken by people in some specific regions" with what is generally considered correct. The OP clearly wants to learn standard English, and did not ask for slang or some regional dialect. – End Anti-Semitic Hate Mar 25 '22 at 07:11
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    This answer also seems to presuppose that the speakers in the video do say "double D forty", which they do not. @PeterShor's answer explains very clearly why they do not, and what they do say (and also helps, at least implicitly, to show why the OP may have misheard what they do say as this). – MikeBeaton Mar 25 '22 at 11:48