How do you say "SNES"?

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

This is a FUN POLLLLLL from the mind of your favourite cute video game rodent—Jogurt the Yogurt!!!

I always hear people pronounce "SNES" in a huge variety of ways. Either they say it all out, Super Nintendo Entertainment System or truncate it to Super Nintendo. Some people just refer to it, Kleenex-style, as "Nintendo". Some people say each individual letter, but some people turn "Snes" into a word.

How do you usually vocalize this acronym?

[sponge]

i am an individual letter sayer. but i will normally refer to it as a super nintendo in conversation (as opposed to typing, when i am happy to shorten it to snes).

edit: looking at the poll, i also use 'super enn eee ess' occasionally.

[slangman]

I refer to the SNES as "Sness".

[hansolo350]

I always call it the Super Nintendo in person. However, I refer to the NES sometimes as the Nintendo and other times as the Enn Eee Ess.

[enigmaopoeia]

I pronounce the SNES as either "Super Enn Eee Ess" or "Ess Enn Eee Ess", but I usually say "Super Enn Eee Ess" more.

[Spore]

Usually Super Nintendo. Sometimes S N E S. Less sometimes Super N E S. Saying "Sness" sounds ****ing weird.

[Betagam7]

I prefer my polls with multiple spelling mistakes and unecessary and random switching of case...but I suppose as a clear beginner to this sort of thing I'll give you an answer anyway:

"SNEZ"

[SegaFan]

Like Betagam, SNEZ with the 'z' sound instead of 's'. That's how everyone I knew pronounced it back in the day.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Wow, I actually failed to consider that option! I hope you dudes voted for the "Some other freaky way..." choice!

I always just say "Super Nintendo" and always have. If I have to say the acronym itself somehow for some reason, I guess I'd say each letter, but that's never happened so far.

[Kurachi]

1 word, "Sness", but thats mostly to people who know what it means, to people who have no idea, i say "super nintendo"

oh yeah: hahahahahahahaha, i laugh to let you know its a funny thread

[kawaiipikachu]

Im an ess enn eee ess guy pronouncing each letter & i know sponge does as well via looking who voted which option in the poll above .

[Refa]

Super Nintendo.

[Diebythesword]

Sness all the way

[Nibbz]

i say snes as one word, but a lot of my friends and people I talk to arent gamers so I say Super Nintendo a lot also since they rarely know what SNES means

[Karyyk]

I've said it several ways..."Super Nintendo"..."S-N-E-S"... "Super NES" is by far my most common utterance though.

[Yossarian]

Originally Posted by Betagam7

I prefer my polls with multiple spelling mistakes and unecessary and random switching of case...but I suppose as a clear beginner to this sort of thing I'll give you an answer anyway:

"SNEZ"

Me too. Snez not 'sness'.

[Ouenben]

Originally Posted by Yossarian

Me too. Snez not 'sness'.

Same here.

Sness? That just doesn't sound right. People who say this, do they also say Hi-ress?

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Ouenben

Same here.

Sness? That just doesn't sound right. People who say this, do they also say Hi-ress?

I doubt it, since "res" is short for "rezzzolution" and "SNES" isn't short for anything. Don't get me wrong, "Sness" is ****ing weird, but "Snezz" is ****ing weirder.

[Yossarian]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

I doubt it, since "res" is short for "rezzzolution" and "SNES" isn't short for anything. Don't get me wrong, "Sness" is ****ing weird, but "Snezz" is ****ing weirder.

Snez not Snezz. Short sound rather than the long double zed sound in 'buzz'.

[SegaFan]

Single s at the end of a word usually gives a 'z' sound, right? Other than following a voiceless consonant like t, I can't think of an English word that doesn't follow this rule. If it was an ess sound it would have to be a double-s like 'less'.

[King Elemento]

I use Super Nintendo most of the time, but sometimes go with the "Snez" option other guys have pointed out.

[lordbowser]

I say super enn eee ess.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by SegaFan

Single s at the end of a word usually gives a 'z' sound, right? Other than following a voiceless consonant like t, I can't think of an English word that doesn't follow this rule. If it was an ess sound it would have to be a double-s like 'less'.

Walrus!

Hmm... it could also be the fact that, if taken as a word, "Snes" is a bit of an unusual construction in the first place. Most "-nes" words have some kind of vowel sound before the 'n' (pines, machines, phones), which makes it easy to elide the 'z' sound onto the preceding consonant (pin'z, machin'z, etc.), but there's no vowel sound in "Snes" at all—if anything, the "natural" say of saying it with the voiced 's' at the end should be "Snz", but how awkward is that?

It could be an accent difference / European thing, though. I know a lot of "Sness"-sayers in real life (part of the reason for creating the poll), but have never heard of "Snez[z]" until you guys mentioned it.

[PoisonRamune]

I normally say it as "ess enn ee ess..." However, if I'm with a certain circle of friends, I refer to it as the Super Nintinto (which is in reference to a very ghetto rigged/duct taped and super glued to work SNES my Latino friend had running in his garage).

[Betagam7]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

Walrus!

Hmm... it could also be the fact that, if taken as a word, "Snes" is a bit of an unusual construction in the first place. Most "-nes" words have some kind of vowel sound before the 'n' (pines, machines, phones), which makes it easy to elide the 'z' sound onto the preceding consonant (pin'z, machin'z, etc.), but there's no vowel sound in "Snes" at all—if anything, the "natural" say of saying it with the voiced 's' at the end should be "Snz", but how awkward is that?

It could be an accent difference / European thing, though. I know a lot of "Sness"-sayers in real life (part of the reason for creating the poll), but have never heard of "Snez[z]" until you guys mentioned it.

From my experience everyone I grew up with pronounced it SNEZ and still does so I suspect this is the common English way of pronouncing it. Here's an example of an old UK games show where you can here it. For obvious reasons the lady in question (Violet Berlin) doesn't attempt to say it too often

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4AztZ5UDs

Although someone thought it WAS a good idea to have her repeatedly ha ve to mention "Rithe of the Roboths"

[SegaFan]

Here's an example of an old UK games show where you can here it. For obvious reasons the lady in question (Violet Berlin) doesn't attempt to say it too often

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4AztZ5UDs

That show was one of the key things that got me into gaming, and probably where I first heard about the SNES.

Theory: Maybe only the people who watched Bad Influence pronounce it SNEZ.

Most "-nes" words have some kind of vowel sound before the 'n' (pines, machines, phones), which makes it easy to elide the 'z' sound onto the preceding consonant (pin'z, machin'z, etc.), but there's no vowel sound in "Snes" at all—if anything, the "natural" say of saying it with the voiced 's' at the end should be "Snz", but how awkward is that?

Having thought about it today (which is kind of sad I know), words that have an s sound are words ending in -us (usually Latin origin, I think, but not always and the rule still seems to apply), otherwise the rule is pronounced as z unless following an unvoiced consonant which prevents the s from being voiced. You've got other words like as, is, was and has.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by SegaFan

That show was one of the key things that got me into gaming, and probably where I first heard about the SNES.

Theory: Maybe only the people who watched Bad Influence pronounce it SNEZ.

Having thought about it today (which is kind of sad I know), words that have an s sound are words ending in -us (usually Latin origin, I think, but not always and the rule still seems to apply), otherwise the rule is pronounced as z unless following an unvoiced consonant which prevents the s from being voiced. You've got other words like as, is, was and has.

'N' is usually a voiced consonant when it has a vowel in front of it (like in my previous examples), but coming immediately after the unvoiced 'S' almost makes it into an unvoiced transitional sound or something. Snes, Snes. Hmm... Maybe this is where accent comes into play? I'm not very cunning a linguist, but I do know someone who is; I'll ask her about it.

[sponge]

Originally Posted by Jogurt the Yogurt

I doubt it, since "res" is short for "rezzzolution" and "SNES" isn't short for anything. Don't get me wrong, "Sness" is ****ing weird, but "Snezz" is ****ing weirder.

this.

nes = nintendo entertainment system. its an abbreviation without the periods in it. like UPS = YOU PEE ESS not 'ups' so super nintendo entertaintment system ess enn eee ess.

its not weird to pronounce it as a word per say, but theres a reason most people wont know what the **** your talking about. because its not a word. thats geek speak.

IMO, so noone gets mad. also clearly there is a bit of culture differences involved. its way less weird if thats how your area pronounced it at the time. personally never heard any other way until not too long ago, about a week before this poll. before then its always been super enn eee ess or super nintendo (or ess enn eee ess). im in the USA. (yoosah? uhsuh? oosuh? oosay?)

[Tides of Chaos]

sness. One word for me. Like Ness only with an s at the beginning. I like pronouncing things as fast as I can in real life, so one word it is for me.

[The shoemaker]

Sness to gamers, Super Nintendo to non gamers. When I read it online I think sness.

[SKTTR]

"ScHNäTzZ"

[retroking]

oi shoemaker are you calling me a non gamer just because i say super nintendo,when i say snes to other people they say whats that? so i have to say super nintendo coz they dont know

ive been collecting retro console/computers and retro games since 1984/85ish

what about you,do you call yourself a gamer?
you being only 15 means my super nintendo was already 5 yrs old when you were born

[Spore]

Time to start an internet fight over a comment made 5 months ago. Though I agree that Super Nintendo is the best way to say it. Then again, you may have confirmed his point if non-gamers you talk to don't understand "Snes" so you have to say Super Nintendo around them.

[MerlinDrazziw]

Super Nintendo most of the time, only use sness when talking to someone who
knows what it is. In dutch the last 's' is just an 's', so no 'z' sound to that.

[Pluvius]

"Sness"??? The only excuse for saying it that way is if you were hit in the head by one too many dodgeballs as a child.

It's "S-N-E-S" or "Super N-E-S." I'll allow "Super Nintendo" but only if you call an NES a "Nintendo." And you shouldn't call an NES a Nintendo because "a Nintendo" can refer to anything that Nintendo makes.

But never "Sness." If you call it a Sness around me, I will point and laugh at you.

Rob

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Pluvius

It's "S-N-E-S" or "Super N-E-S." I'll allow "Super Nintendo" but only if you call an NES a "Nintendo." And you shouldn't call an NES a Nintendo because "a Nintendo" can refer to anything that Nintendo makes.

I grew up calling NES "Nintendo" because NES was the only system they made when I started calling it that... so SNES naturally became Super Nintendo. "Super Nintendo" would also be acceptable short form of "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" even if you didn't call the NES just "Nintendo"

[Tides of Chaos]

Originally Posted by Pluvius

"Sness"??? The only excuse for saying it that way is if you were hit in the head by one too many dodgeballs as a child.

I don't get it, what's the big deal of calling it that? Sure, it doesn't really make sense in terms of what the system's official name is, but it's like a nickname that people can recognize (a bit like "wiimote" is). Plus, it's shorter and easiest to say. (like "wiimote" is).

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Tides of Chaos

I don't get it, what's the big deal of calling it that? Sure, it doesn't really make sense in terms of what the system's official name is, but it's like a nickname that people can recognize (a bit like "wiimote" is). Plus, it's shorter and easiest to say. (like "wiimote" is).

I'm assuming he's comically exaggerating his distaste for pronouncing acronyms as words.

[Ouenben]

Originally Posted by Pluvius

"Sness"??? The only excuse for saying it that way is if you were hit in the head by one too many dodgeballs as a child.

It's "S-N-E-S" or "Super N-E-S." I'll allow "Super Nintendo" but only if you call an NES a "Nintendo." And you shouldn't call an NES a Nintendo because "a Nintendo" can refer to anything that Nintendo makes.

But never "Sness." If you call it a Sness around me, I will point and laugh at you.

Rob

What about "SNEZ"? That's the way I usually hear people say it and I tend to say it as too.

[Jogurt the Yogurt]

Originally Posted by Ouenben

What about "SNEZ"? That's the way I usually hear people say it and I tend to say it as too.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that that falls under the same rubric of laughability to which Pluvius subscribes, considering that pronunciation is based on the same principles as the above.