President Biden repeatedly mispronounced Omicron as ‘Omnicron’ on Monday as he claimed to be on top of the potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant. Dr. Fauci, President’s Chief Medical Advisor, did the same.
Biden pronounce Omicron as Omnicron
“It’s called the Omni-cron,” Biden said, during the speech on the omicron variant.
“We’ve moved forward in the face of COVID-19 and moved forward in the face of the Delta variant. And we move forward now in the face of the Omnicron variant as well,” Biden wrongly repeated the variant name.
“Travel restrictions can slow the speed of Omnicron,” Biden said. “We cannot prevent it. But here’s what it does: It gives us time.”
Biden says "Omnicron" variant instead of saying "Omicron" pic.twitter.com/yDca8Re4Zq
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 29, 2021
Early action on travel restrictions will slow the spread of omicron but not block it, Biden says as he urges Americans to get vaccinated https://t.co/xcaxhSMVjg pic.twitter.com/xk1TkMAxfu
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) November 29, 2021
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, also mispronounced the variant’s name.
“Even before Omnicron came in, we had a situation where we’ll be able to test,” Fauci said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says PCR tests currently in use across the country would be able to detect “very unusual” omicron COVID-19 variant. https://t.co/GRc12lGqjF pic.twitter.com/RE8pjk4tkU
— ABC News (@ABC) November 29, 2021
Correct pronunciation of Omicron?
“The correct pronunciation is to emphasise the first syllable; the first o and the I are both short corresponding to Greek v (literally ‘little o’ as opposed to omega – ‘large o’),” says Richard Catling, Assistant Editor, Lexicon of Greek Personal Names.
“So, O-mi-cron, definitely not oh-MY-cron,” he reportedly said.
