Na-Wah-Bum

Anyone else ABSOLUTELY DESPISE this pronunciation of NWOBHM? Honestly, scrapes at my back whenever I hear a new band say this.

I've never heard anyone actually try to pronounce the acronym.

Missouri is always a decade behind the rest of the U.S. [just kidding, Toho!]

I hate it and it drives me nuts. We talked about it in the recent past and it appears that pronunciation may be associated with Canada. For instance, Sam Dunn is where I first heard it used and I assumed it was something he made up for some reason. Although, I believe Boris2008 said he heard it in the UK sometimes, but my English wife had never heard that pronunciation growing up in London during the NWOBHM. But anyway, it sucks.

I just watched an interview with Jill Janus from Huntress and she used it.  Just as I was getting into her band....

And they are from L.A.

Yeah, it's immensely irritating. It's an acronym and should be said that way. Not as some ridiculous word.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Missouri is always a decade behind the rest of the U.S. [just kidding, Toho!]

Sad but true.

Hey, I hear that's the name of a new song by Metallica!

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

I just watched an interview with Jill Janus from Huntress and she used it.  Just as I was getting into her band....

I wouldn't expect Jill Janus to know anything about the NWOBHM other than what she saw on a documentary. It's not like she was buying Mythra's Death and Desiny EP as an import in 1979. Not that there's anything wrong with being a new fan of that music or anything, but she's no expert.

It's a strange phenomenon though to hear a different pronunciation of an acronym that has existed for 35+ years.  

Maybe we are just grumpy old men?

tohostudios wrote:

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

Missouri is always a decade behind the rest of the U.S. [just kidding, Toho!]

Sad but true.

Hey, I hear that's the name of a new song by Metallica!

heehee!

And, yeah WF. We have earned the right to be grumpy, I think.

Bruce Dickinson used it in one of the many Maiden documentaries.

I'll allow it. Pronouncing the actual NWOBHM acronym takes too long, and it's almost faster to just say the whole thing.

It really goes back to the original name of the movement - it's not very practical.

What should it have been called then? Denim & Leather? British Steel?

NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY FING METAL is what it should be called. Lari.

Just now, reading the last few posts, I felt like we were in Spinal Tap.

I've never personally heard anyone pronounce the phrase that way.  I've seen some interviews (including Sam Dunn) that used it but I just assumed it was something that came along later after I stopped paying attention.

But in the 80s, we weren't as lazy and could actually say "New Wave of British Heavy Metal".

I can see why it's silly and annoying, but I personally don't have a problem with the way Sam Dunn says it. I don't think I would ever use it, but if someone said it to me to describe a particular band/ artist, I would understand. I always say the full phrase (and write the acronym) because if I shortened it to just New Wave (or New Wave of British) then that would bring to mind the likes of the Cars and Flock of Seagulls.

I'd never heard it pronounced "noo-wob-him" till I saw Sam Dunn's documentary series. I found it funny at first, then it quickly became irritating.

People actually do this? I would never try to pronounce this kind as acronym as "Nah Wah Bum".

Whadda mean? We pronounce acronyms all the time: NASA, NIC(Network Interface Controller), ISSA(Information Systems Security Association) and a host of others in the IT field that I can't even remember.

I don't care either way, though. At least I know they're jammin' to that and not the Beebs or Miley Virus.

Never heard that shit before. Leave it to my generation to F*ck it up though.

Sounds like ghetto slang for a homosexual act.

I've made my feelings known about this many times. 

It's pretty irritating.

Good grief....if Bruce Dickinson can use the term, I don't know what we're complaining about.

This is literally the first time I've ever heard of such a thing. What's so hard about saying all the words? It doesn't take that long. It's like on crime shows when they say "un sub" or "perp" or "vic." How much time/effort are those abbreviations really saving? I agree, I hate it and will forever just say New Wave of British Heavy Metal.