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Original poster

How do you pronounce 'insulin'?

173 replies

UpUpUpU · 30/10/2024 12:12

Sorry it is random! Just been watching a documentary on Lucy Letby and one of the people of there was pronouncing 'insulin' in a way that was making my teeth itch! 😂

How do you pronounce it?

OP posts:
marshmallowfinder · 30/10/2024 17:47

INce u lin.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/10/2024 17:57

Do tell me which regional accent you speak so that I can tell you whether it’s one that I am in general support of.

An idiosyncratic mix of the Lancashire and Yorkshire of my parents and where I've lived as an adult, with some of the Essex coast I was raised in.Grin. I really appreciate the rich diversity of English in normal communication.

But in science and medicine, more conformity can be quite vitally important.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/10/2024 18:03

And how do you pronounce apoptosis?

I don't... afaik it's a pop toe sis, but I'll happily be corrected by an expert in the field if I'm wrong!

Interested in this thread?

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General health
bodydrain · 30/10/2024 18:13

ins-u-lin

TeamPolin · 30/10/2024 18:20

In-Sue-Lin

IBlameTheDog · 30/10/2024 19:16

I've been pronouncing it wrong my whole life!!!!

Reminds me of a friend who used to drink "Proshecco". I used to laugh at them 😬

StMarieforme · 30/10/2024 19:17

OliviaRodrighost · 30/10/2024 12:15

In-syuh-lin

The same way I’d pronounce insulate but “in” instead of “ate”.

(I’m Scottish if that makes a difference)

Edited

Yes this. I'm English, Midlands.

Blueberrymuffin8 · 30/10/2024 19:18

In syou lin

Ozanj · 30/10/2024 19:22

In-sya-lin is the correct pronounciation

Twoshoesnewshoes · 30/10/2024 19:27

In syuh lin

PeoplesNet · 15/02/2026 09:37

Don't worry about how it's written when it comes to English(!) or you will be saying "wom-men" instead of "wimin" (women) and "iss-you" instead of "ish-oo" (issue: I know some people do but that's weird!) and these would all sound the same: thought, through, though, trough and "would"... "wood"...? Why the "l" still in would/could/should.. but "shoulder"? And "laughter" ("f"??) but add an "s" to the start of that word...! And it's also the opposite meaning.. kind of. English is fun.

P.s. got here from the ITV docu on LL where the narrator kept saying "inshulin". It was erm.. distracting(!)

upinaballoon · 15/02/2026 14:53

OliviaRodrighost · 30/10/2024 12:15

In-syuh-lin

The same way I’d pronounce insulate but “in” instead of “ate”.

(I’m Scottish if that makes a difference)

Edited

I'm English and I'd pronounce it the same way.

JaninaDuszejko · 16/02/2026 13:47

ErrolTheDragon · 30/10/2024 18:03

And how do you pronounce apoptosis?

I don't... afaik it's a pop toe sis, but I'll happily be corrected by an expert in the field if I'm wrong!

You find the same divergence in pronounciation for apoptosis as you do for apricot. I (Scottish scientist) pronounce it ah poptosis but lots of scientists say ay poptosis. But since Andrew Wyllie is also Scottish I'd say I'm pronouncing it 'correctly'. My point really is that I've heard lots of variation in pronounciation of scientific terms by scientists, there isn't always an agreed pronounciation and as long as you are easily understood scientists don't care.

Pollypoppy · 22/02/2026 21:33

Insulin - insu - like insta but without the T and then Lin like the girls name.

Meredusoleil · 22/02/2026 21:44

Why has this post been revived from 2024?!?

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 23/02/2026 06:59

LockForMultiball · 30/10/2024 17:44

Depends how much effort I'm putting in and how slowly I'm speaking.

High effort: ins-yu-lin
Normal: ins-uh-lin
In a rush: ins-lin

The poster above who mentioned yod coalescence is correct about the sh sound. (It's also sometimes called palatalisation, but I don't think that's technically accurate.)

Sounds like tyuh, dyuh, syuh etc. are effortful for most English speakers. This means that over time, either the yuh part of the sound (the yod) gets dropped — as in the common pronunciation of "suit" as "s-ooh-t" rather than "syoot" — or the consonant and the yuh sounds get coalesced/changed into a different, easier sound. Tyuh becomes chuh, dyuh becomes juh, syuh becomes shuh, etc. For example, "assure" — many people will pronounce this similarly to "ashore", and you might sound over-fussy if you said "ass-yure". Pretty much everyone does yod coalescence with the dyuh sound in "soldier", but with something like "endure", it's more mixed.

It's a natural process of language change and it's not necessarily better to shift ins-yoo-lin to ins-uh-lin than in-shu-lin.

Edited

Thank you for this! I am one of the relics that says the yod in many words (Tuesday and Soldier), but has lost it in ‘suit’, ‘issue’ and ‘assure’. I shall listen out for it. I didn’t realise it had been there before!

bloominoreilly · 23/02/2026 10:58

Redflagsabounded · 30/10/2024 12:23

There's no h. Why are people adding one to make sh?

I can understand different accents making suh or syou, but can't get my head around sh.

Edited

I was thinking exactly same - why are they adding an 'h', but maybe it's like 'tissue' - which I pronounce "tishoo" (!) & I've heard people with RP accent pronounce "tiss-yoo"

bloominoreilly · 23/02/2026 11:06

bloominoreilly · 23/02/2026 10:58

I was thinking exactly same - why are they adding an 'h', but maybe it's like 'tissue' - which I pronounce "tishoo" (!) & I've heard people with RP accent pronounce "tiss-yoo"

Edited
Show quote history

Posted before reading whole thread 🙄

User364837 · 23/02/2026 20:12

The ones with the Sh sound are blowing my mind. Never heard this! Why would you put an H in?

MaidOfSteel · 23/02/2026 20:16

In-syoo-lin. I definitely pronounce the ‘you’ sound in the middle.

MyThreeWords · 23/02/2026 20:22

Ince-you-lin

According to google, ince-you-lin is the UK pronunciation, and ince-uh-lin is the US pronunciation.

pouletvous · 23/02/2026 20:34

OhshutupSimonyounobhead · 30/10/2024 12:16

In-Shuh-lin

Been a Nurse for 30 years so don't tell me i have been wrong all this time!

Do you also say “ashoom”?

YelramBob · 23/02/2026 21:15

Meredusoleil · 22/02/2026 21:44

Why has this post been revived from 2024?!?

Edited

Well spotted 🧐 Your blood sugar levels are good obviously 😁

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