Talk:quixotic

...and it is pronounced how?

like a moron would pronounce it
quixotic is pronounced "kwik-sot-ik." Every dictionary I have seen this word in says so, despite it being in such small usage that one might suspect the academes that use it to be familiar with the original idea behind the word. The only explanation is that several scholars truly beleived they were moved by Cervantes tale of Don Kwiksoti. 128.101.70.95 17:21, 14 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Nice edit summary. "Believed" is spelled with the "i before e."  Over 50,000 books can be found using the term "quixotic", at first glance.  Over two million web pages currently use the word.  Although I haven't heard the word yet today, I did hear it conversationally yesterday.  Your assertion that the term is in "such small usage" is as incorrect as your spelling.  Your assertion that the pronunciation should be more like "key" + "hote" + "ick" is quite silly.  --Connel MacKenzie 17:44, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

I do have to agree with the first analysis. Because the word did originate from Cervantes' book Don Quixote, (which by the way is second only to the bible in being the most translated book in the world) I think it should be pronounced more like the character's name. "key-hO-tick" -Morphine


 * That is precisely the problem. How you think it should be pronounced, is not how it is.  Try http://m-w.com/dictionary/quixotic if you don't believe us.  --Connel MacKenzie 18:37, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

I am well aware of how the word is pronounced sir... I am simply stating that the pronunciation of the word is catered to morons and psuedointellectuals. I apologize for being over opinionated but it would make good sence if the word's pronunciation corresponded to that of its origin.


 * I apologize for my tone, if that caused offense. It was not meant to.  If you wish to enter an alternate pronunciation, I'm not at all sure how it should be labeled..."theoretic etymological pronunciation" or something?  --Connel MacKenzie 20:47, 22 October 2007 (UTC)
 * A usage note citing the etymology should suffice. Cheers! bd2412 T 22:54, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

More information illuminates this. As noted in the American Heritage Book of English Usage, Brits and Americans pronounce the name of the character Quixote differently. Aha! This explains the Britishism "quicksotic" and frees those of us who say "Kee-ho-tay" to continue to pronounce the derived adjective our preferred way, which is more faithful to the source language. Cited at http://www.bartleby.com/64/pages/page232.html


 * I'm not sure that it wouldn't sound affected to pronounce it that way. The Spanish adjective is after all, not "quijotico". I would pronounce with an "h" for the "x" without expecting it to be considered affected (in fact preferred in the US), but not quixotic:. DCDuring Holiday Greetings! 17:40, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Say it how you wish to say it-the meaning remains the same, and if others think not you can explain the meaning of the word-i'm sure it doesn't actually matter. For the purpose of this, however, i'd pronounce it "kwicks-oh-tick". Hana O'Connell, 15:54, 4th April 2009.

Well, take "nuclear" and the idiotic "nuculur" that's listed as a possible pronunciation on here as well. It inclines me to agree with the people who see the wikis and other such content as part of the dumbing down of the world. Artsygeek (talk) 16:17, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
 * So showing the world as it is, is dumbing it down? I don't get it. 16:31, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Just to correct ConnieInfo above, the British pronounce Quixote as "kee-ho-tay". One need only youtube the single 'Don Quixote' by the excellent British singer/songwriter Nik Kershaw to prove that.--31.49.56.196 20:09, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

Of course, real intellectuals should know that the original Old Spanish pronunciation was with [ʃ], and the modern Spanish pronunciation is with [χ], not [h]. See Wikipedia. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 02:31, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Contradiction re: pronunciation
The "usage note" states, "Conversely, received pronunciation maintains the pronunciation of the semivowel 'h' without the strong phoneme of 'x'." However, the pronunciation section lists ", ". These seem to me to be contradictory. I wasn't able to find the source linked in the previous discussion... could someone clear this up or provide a working citation? --Jacob Finn 06:23, 14 September 2010 (UTC)