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A rare opportunity to indulge a question I've harboured for some time: how do the servicemembers assigned to Thule Air Base pronounce it? I was educated by Ant

A rare opportunity to indulge a question I've harboured for some time: how do the servicemembers assigned to Thule Air Base pronounce it? I was educated by Anthroposophists so when I read that noun my inner voice pronounces it, er, Bavarian. I've never had a chance to ask someone who would know how USAF says it, but I'd guess it isn't that.

troydavis 5y ago
"Too-lee" (https://www.peterson.spaceforce.mil/Thule-AB-Greenland/ https://www.peterson.spaceforce.mil/Thule-AB-Greenland/).
ineedasername 5y ago
A family member that was in the USAF talks about this base* and pronounces it /'tuli/ (like "duly" in "duly noted".) *Also that getting posted there was idiomatic for pissing off the wrong person. As in, "Don't piss them off or you'll end up in Thule Greenland". It wasn't considered a desirable posting, at least not by many. Enough so that it provided what these days is called "assignment incentive pay".
- vba616 5y ago
  >pronounces it /'tuli/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50967/20-towns-named-other-towns-pronounced-differently https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50967/20-towns-named-oth...
- jdougan 5y ago
  > Also that getting posted there was idiomatic for pissing off the wrong person. When I was a kid the usual way to refer to this was "He'll be pushing a broom in Thule"
thuleadjacent 5y ago
I roll BJJ with a man formerly stationed there - when speaking of it he goes with the “obvious” American way where the “th” sounds like the “th” in “the” with the “ule” a bit like the German “öl” as pronounced by an American, rather than the suggested Swedish-style pronunciation suggestion by other HNers. I’m not finding it off-hand, but if you’ve ever seen the Hellboy movie I believe it sounds as the professor pronounces the “Thule Occult Society.” Perhaps I need to finally learn the IPA for this comment...

troydavis 5y ago

"Too-lee" (https://www.peterson.spaceforce.mil/Thule-AB-Greenland/ https://www.peterson.spaceforce.mil/Thule-AB-Greenland/).

ineedasername 5y ago

A family member that was in the USAF talks about this base* and pronounces it /'tuli/ (like "duly" in "duly noted".) *Also that getting posted there was idiomatic for pissing off the wrong person. As in, "Don't piss them off or you'll end up in Thule Greenland". It wasn't considered a desirable posting, at least not by many. Enough so that it provided what these days is called "assignment incentive pay".

vba616 5y ago
>pronounces it /'tuli/ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50967/20-towns-named-other-towns-pronounced-differently https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/50967/20-towns-named-oth...
jdougan 5y ago
> Also that getting posted there was idiomatic for pissing off the wrong person. When I was a kid the usual way to refer to this was "He'll be pushing a broom in Thule"

thuleadjacent 5y ago

I roll BJJ with a man formerly stationed there - when speaking of it he goes with the “obvious” American way where the “th” sounds like the “th” in “the” with the “ule” a bit like the German “öl” as pronounced by an American, rather than the suggested Swedish-style pronunciation suggestion by other HNers. I’m not finding it off-hand, but if you’ve ever seen the Hellboy movie I believe it sounds as the professor pronounces the “Thule Occult Society.” Perhaps I need to finally learn the IPA for this comment...