L-I-R-R vs. Lurr: The Debate Splitting New York Commuters

New Yorkers, among other neuroses, can be particular about the local vernacular.You wait on line, not in line.The subway goes uptown or downtown, not north or south.

And “the city” never, ever refers to the whole city — just Manhattan.But for some reason, no matter how many times they’ve ridden the Long Island Rail Road out to Jones Beach or back and forth between Midtown and Ronkonkoma, New Yorkers can’t agree on how to pronounce it.The evidence has been on everyone’s lips since about 3,500 L.I.R.R.

workers went on strike on Saturday.“There are a lot of things to debate and to discuss right now,” said Shekar Krishnan, a City Council member representing parts of Queens, including Woodside, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.“But there’s one thing that’s not debatable: We say Lurr.”Try telling that to Kieran McShane, 69, a retiree who spent almost 40 years catching the 6:09 a.m.

train from Babylon to Penn Station, the whole time calling it the L-I-R-R — each letter enunciated individually.“Now, I know certain people say L-I-double R,” he said.“But I’d never say that.”Mr.

McShane’s tolerance for alternate vocalizations was truly tested, then, when a reporter informed him that some pronounced the letters of L.I.R.R.as a monosyllabic word.“What?! Really?!” he said, before shouting to his wife in the other room: “Anne! Have you ever heard it called the Lurr?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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