Rhetoric: 'tor' as in "Torres" or not?

Dj_Jestar · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:13

After seeing the ear bleedingly stupid interview of Ed Milliband and his repetive use/abuse of the word "Rhetoric" I'm left thinking "Is he pronouncing that incorrectly, or have I been all this years?"

So far I'm thinking he's an idiot. I'm also thinking he can't pronounce it properly. I can think of many examples where it (the 'tor') is prounced how I think is the proper..

Doctor/Proctor/everything that ends with "tor"
Torres
Toronto
Torquay

but I'm drawing a blank on Ed's pronunciation of it, as if it were "ter".

Clarity for this life stopping conundrum will be most appreciated!

Jokester · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:14

Heard it pronounced both ways, doesn't bother me either way.

Alex74 · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:15

I'd tend to say rhe'ter'ic and rhe'tor'ical. Not a big deal for me how people choose to say it tbh.

Glaucus · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:19

seems he's right, but would say nearly everyone says it the other way

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rhetoric

bledd · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:20

Does that mean he calls Torquay... Turkey

Cosimo · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:23

It's no big deal whichever way it's pronounced.

joxang · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:25

The 'tor' in rhetoric is pronounced 'ter'. Tbh I've never heard anyone pronounce it any other way...though obviously it seems like lots of people do

.

Doctor/Proctor/everything that ends with "tor"

Also 'Doctor'....that's pronounced 'docter' surely?!

matt_fsr · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:25

Dj_Jestar said:
blah blah Ed Milliband blah blah he's an idiot.

This was all you needed to post really.

mufc802 · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:27

Also Fernando Torres, that is a different sounding Tor sounds more like Tar.

Westyfield2 · 1 Jul 2011 at 17:53

He's an idiot no matter how it's pronounced!

Scon · 1 Jul 2011 at 18:31

mufc802 said:
Also Fernando Torres, that is a different sounding Tor sounds more like Tar.

Is it?

Or is it just your accent?

Ksanti · 1 Jul 2011 at 18:57

He's saying it correctly.

He's an idiot notwithstanding, but there are several ways of looking up the pronunciation of a word without making yourself looking like an idiot.

manic111 · 1 Jul 2011 at 19:50

I've always pronounced it "rheteric"

pepp77 · 1 Jul 2011 at 19:57

Ive always pronounced it rhetoric, sounds stupid as rheteric to me. Also why is it pronounced rheteric, but rhetorical isnt?

Efour · 1 Jul 2011 at 20:01

TOR to me but either way its a poncey word.

Haircut · 1 Jul 2011 at 20:05

Can't say I've ever heard Ed Milliband say it, but I've always pronounced it as retteric.

Participant · 1 Jul 2011 at 20:24

joxang said:
The 'tor' in rhetoric is pronounced 'ter'. Tbh I've never heard anyone pronounce it any other way

Gilly · 1 Jul 2011 at 21:11

Etymology

From Latin rhētorica < Ancient Greek ῥητορική (rhētorikē), feminine form of ῥητορικός (rhētorikos, “concerning public speech”) < ῥήτωρ (rhētōr, “public speaker”).

It's TOR not TER.

joxang said:
The 'tor' in rhetoric is pronounced 'ter'. Tbh I've never heard anyone pronounce it any other way...though obviously it seems like lots of people do .

I've never heard it as 'ter'.

joxang said:
Also 'Doctor'....that's pronounced 'docter' surely?!

No, doctor. It's an 'o'.

Souleh · 1 Jul 2011 at 21:29

+1 to Rhe'ter'ic

But then you english folk say Primark as Pry'mark instead of Pre'mark too

joxang · 1 Jul 2011 at 21:31

Gilly said:
No, doctor. It's an 'o'.

So you say 'Doc-TOR'?!!!!

I'm beginning to think that this is something to do with accents.

EDIT:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/doctor_1?q=doctor
English pronounciation: 'Doc-ter'.

Never EVER heard anyone say 'Doc-tor'. And I work in a hospital xD.