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Forum:	Mercury - Gemini - Apollo
Topic:	Correct (official) pronunciation of 'Gemini'

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by oly: [B]This Vintage Space clip should settle the question. <center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c9CYT-vezbY?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER>T O P I C     R E V I E W</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>hammer & feather</TD><TD>Several astronauts say Gemini as "Gemin-eye" and some say "Gemin-ee." What is correct? Perhaps both are correct?</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Rob Sumowski</TD><TD>Both are correct; however I've always used the version that most of the astronauts and flight directors seemed to use during the actual program: "Gemin-ee." Don't know why... just thought it sounded cooler.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Sy Liebergot</TD><TD>Yes, I agree — both pronunciations are correct. However, if memory serves me correctly, most of us flight ops guys said Gemin-eye. But, certainly no biggie...</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>FFrench</TD><TD>If you go to Wally Schirra's <A HREF="http://wallyschirra.com/" TARGET=_blank>website</A>, where each page has a bit of interview footage with him, he discusses that and says that either was correct.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Blackarrow</TD><TD>From memory, most transmissions to and from the Gemini capsules used the "Gemin-ee" pronunciation, perhaps because it was quicker to say "Gemin-ee 4, get back in!" than "Gemin-eye 4, get back in!"</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>Reviving this 2006 topic, the question of how to pronounce "Gemini" came up in the production of the film "First Man." There was some debate among the consultants, but ultimately it came down to how Neil Armstrong said it at the time of Gemini 8 and that was "Gemin-ee."Since then, it was pointed out that The New York Times <A HREF="https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/03/archives/nasa-clears-up-way-gemini-is-pronounced.html" TARGET=_blank>ran a UPI article</A> on this subject on April 2, 1965: <BLOCKQUOTE>Regardless of what the dictionary says, the Federal space agency's official pronunciation for its new man-in-space program, Gemini, is "Jiminy," as in "Jiminy Cricket."</BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>SpaceSteve</TD><TD>I know that every time I've heard Jim Lovell say it, it's Ge-min-ee.Just a thought in my mind, but maybe given the choice, they felt the last syllable should be pronounced the same as in Mercury.</TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>oly</TD><TD>This Vintage Space clip should settle the question.<center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c9CYT-vezbY?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen>

Robert Pearlman

The New York Times has revisited the topic:

...it wasn't always so clear, said Bill Barry, the space agency's chief historian. Back in the time of the Gemini program, "it kind of depended who you were talking to, and what day of the week it was," and even varied from NASA locations, he said.
For "First Man," NASA arranged a meeting between the film's star, Ryan Gosling, and Michael Collins, a member of the Apollo 11 crew. Taking the opportunity, Dr. Barry asked Mr. Collins to resolve the question. "He kind of gets this twinkle in his eye," he recalled. "He used the word 'Gemini' twice in his answer — and he pronounced it both ways."
As for the filmmakers, Dr. Barry said that he suggested to them that for the sake of clarity, they pick one pronunciation and stick with it. "From my perspective, from 50 years later, whichever you want to use is fine."

SpaceDust

I remember just before the Gemini 7 mission Frank Borman was asked this very question by a reporter. His response was "Jim and I." You've got to love his answer!

SpaceSteve

quote:
Originally posted by SpaceDust:
His response was "Jim and I."

Proper grammar though, is "Jim and me."

Jonnyed

Actually proper grammar can be any of three responses depending on the circumstances or the thought wishing to be conveyed: "Jim and I" or "Jim and me" or "Jim and myself."

Examples: (1) Both Jim and I are going out for the space walk. (2) Notify Jim and me before making a decision like that again. (3) Before the launch, I was thinking about both Jim and myself and our very different career paths.

So it would have been entirely appropriate grammar for Borman to respond "Jim and I" in the context of "Jim Lovell and I are the astronauts assigned to Gemini 7." This is why his answer is quite witty.

Accepted pronunciation can vary widely between British english, American english, Greek, etc. on many words so I just sit back and enjoy the diversity. Of course, I always get a little nervous when engineers (including me? myself? I?) lecture each other about grammar.

Blackarrow

I always got the impression that the "GeminiEYE" pronunciation was more likely if the speaker had a pronounced southern drawl. How did Charlie Duke say it?

spaced out

Listening to the latest StarTalk podcast I noticed that Gene Kranz pronounced it Gemin-EYE, for what it's worth.

randy

In 'Race to the Moon', when they're talking about Gemini 6/7, during the rendezvous phase Wally Schirra refers to Gemini 7 as "spacecraft seven". Was that just for this mission?

oly

There does not appear to be any association between the pronunciation of Gemini, and the geographical origin of the people who adopted the "standardized" NASA phrasing. News reporters of the time, including Cronkite and Bergman, used the modified form of the name, which is described to have originated from the twin star constellation bearing the same name (in which case the same pronunciation should follow).

Of the numerous forums and news stories that address NASA's aberration of the English language, there have been several points of origin attributed with first speaking the word as if referring to a famous cricket (spelling: Jiminy).

Even if the origin of this pronunciation could be traced to a single source, the practice of using the unique pronunciation should have been arrested by the many of the thousands of higher educated individuals involved in the space program, that each had attended university and would undoubtedly been capable of identifying such a slur.

The most likely reasoning for the continued use of the altered version is most likely due to a cultural trend within NASA at the time, whereby the used of the "ee" sound meant some kind of unwritten membership to a group of people in the know (what all the cool kids are saying).

This is much the same as why the SR71 became known as the HABU within the circle of aviators associated with the aircraft, or why the F111 Aardvark became affectionately known as the "Pig" within Australian Air Force crews.

Today, a new generation of people have begun asking the same question that has addressed the Gemini program from the beginning, What's up with NASA's pronunciation of Gemini?

The program could have been officially named Mercury II, as it was known for some time, or NASA could have named it program "Doris, Esme, or Sleepy Weasel, which would not sound quite so auspicious.

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