Talk:primer

I changed the category tag (back) to a category that actually exists instead of '"British" heteronyms'. I think that if a major portion of the English world thinks it's a heteronym, it should be on the list of English heteronyms; and let the individual entries specify that it isn't pronounced as a heteronym in the American/Commonwealth/whichever dialect of English. Beobach972 17:02, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Is there corroboration for the assertion that the "primmer" pronunciation for textbook is the UK version? Having spent a long time in the UK education system, I'd never heard this usage until last week, and then by an American English speaker. Dictionary.com has it the other way round, too. --EvilKOLBot 11:21, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

I've been led to believe that the "primmer" pronunciation is correct for the "introduction" meaning, while the "prime-er" pronunciation is correct for the liquid one applies before painting. I am an American. --Evil1987 14:38, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Removed Textbook pronunciation:
(1) the US pronunciation was the as that given for other senses
(2) the UK pronunciation (homophonous with primmer, unverified for 4 years and now removed) seemed spurious, questioned in 2006 the only comment was from an American.
This rfv seemed to have lain dormant for too long! —Saltmarsh^{απάντηση} 05:25, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

RFV discussion: January–February 2018

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for verification (permalink).

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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primer

Rfv-sense: "Any substance or device used to ignite a fire, (especially) any priming wire, blasting cap, or other device used to ignite gunpowder or other explosive."

A modern cartridge consists of the following:
1. the bullet, as the projectile;
2. the case, which holds all parts together;
3. the propellant, for example gunpowder or cordite;
4. the rim, which provides the extractor on the firearm a place to grip the casing to remove it from the chamber once fired;
5. the primer, which ignites the propellant.

I believe this is inaccurate. Looking at other dictionaries and usage in the web, it seems to me that "primer" is seldom if ever used of a substance or device that is used to light a fire, such as campfire or fire in an oven. Am I right? Should it rather read like this, for example:

1. Any substance or device, such as a priming wire or blasting cap, used to ignite a main explosive.

--Hekaheka (talk) 05:32, 17 January 2018 (UTC)

RFV-resolved - definition tweaked and cited. Kiwima (talk) 09:33, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Switched Sound Files

The sound files for the US and US (irregular) pronunciations of etymology 1 are switched; they don’t match up with the IPA transcriptions (which are correct). Not sure if I should go ahead and change them or what. Andyharbor (talk) 04:28, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

I assume this is passive aggressive editing. Certain pedants insist the less common pronunciation is the correct one and the more common one is "irregular". Dantai Amakiir (talk) 14:29, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

Pronunciation wrongly labelled "irregular"

"(US, irregular, but common; borrowed from Etymology 2): IPA(key): /ˈpɹaɪmɚ/" There's nothing "irregular" about that. On the contrary, the pronunciation with a diphthong is regular based on standard English rules of spelling and pronunciation and the relationship with words like "prime" and "primary" that have a similar etymology. It is the traditional/standard US pronunciation that is the irregular one!