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Nucular is an intentional misspelling of the word nuclear which is usually intended to express contempt or amusement towards the commonplace NOO-kyuh-luhr (['nu:kjələ(r)] in IPA) pronunciation of that word.
This pronunciation is disapproved of by some who consider it a mispronunciation, although the Merriam-Webster dictionary says: [1] (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=nuclear)
- "Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in [kjələ(r)] have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, U.S. cabinet members, and at least one U.S. president and one vice president. While most common in the U.S., these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers."
Merriam-Webster receives enough questions about their inclusion of this pronunciation in the dictionary that it is singled out in their FAQ (along with "February"). [2] (http://www.m-w.com/help/faq/pronounce.htm)
It should be noted that "nucular" is also the pronunciation preferred by Homer Simpson, and his confident use of it in The Simpsons exemplifies a level of cultural information that is largely overheard at some distance, second-hand, rather than read. Correctness aside, the pronunciation is a revealing cultural shibboleth. Nucular is especially common in the American South, and thus commonly used by Presidents Bill Clinton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush (but not his father, George H.W. Bush) all of whom received some derision for it.
A possible explanation for the pronunciation nucular is the prevalence of other -cule nouns and -cular adjectives in English and science (molecular, particular etc.) and the rarity of -cleus or -clear words. Nuclear weapons (and microwave ovens) are often referred to colloquially as nukes; given the currency of this short form, nucular seems to be the addition of the regular suffix -ular to the colloquial form (which would make it a case of false etymology). The Latin word nuculeus or nucleus means "kernel" and is derived from nucula, "little nut" (from nux + ula). Nucular would apparently be the adjective form of the "little nut" root; nuculear (so far unused) would be the adjective of the alternative spelling of "kernel".
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