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Comment by saulpw | Hacker News Reader

I think "lukecool" hasn't become a word for the simple reason that it has a double-k sound that doesn't jive aurally--it either sounds like two words, or one of the k's is dropped, or a small vowel has to be inserted between them. So you end up with:

- lou-cool

- look cool

- luka-cool

So linguistically it's as unstable as a rural juror.

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This might have something to it, but there are plenty of common expressions that have the same phonetic properties you're describing (IPA transcriptions provided):

* fast track /fæst træk/

* swim meet /swɪm mit/

* Fat Tuesday /fæt tuzdeɪ/

* hat trick /hæt trɪk/

* fake coin /feɪk kɔɪn/

* drip pan /drɪp pæn/

BTW, I don't know if your account of how the phonetics of such words works out is correct. The traditional account is that in situations like this where the same consonant appears on either side of a word boundary, English speakers actually hold the consonant for a "double length", which is called gemination. (This is in fact very common in some languages, such as Italian, e.g. "sette" 'seven' vs. "sete" 'thirst', but English only recognizes consonantal length contrasts in consonants in this limited sort of situation.) The Wikipedia page has a good discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemination#English

You can verify this for yourself by comparing some minimal pairs. Consider:

1a. fast track /fæst træk/

1b. fast rack /fæst træk/

2a. fake coil /feɪk kɔɪl/

2b. fake oil /feɪk ɔɪl/

In my personal English, each a-b pair differs only in the amount of time I produce the /t/ or /k/ closure for at my alveolar ridge or velum.

For me fast track is /fæs træk/

Realistically though context is sufficient to distinguish these so pronunciation doesn’t have to be too distinct

You left out “look cool” which is also in common use.

There is a glottal stop between the sounds in "look cool". You couldn't do that to lukecool without it sounding like two words.

I don't personally have a glottal stop in "look cool". I think it's the same as "lukecool" except for one vowel, at least in my English:

* lukecool /luk kul/

* look cool /lʊk kul/

I don't know - the word also exists in German as "lauwarm", but "laukalt" (lukecool), which does not share those problems, also does not exist (and AFAIK it's not a loan word from English, but a "normal" compound word from "lau" and "warm" / both derive from Common Germanic[1]).

[1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lukewarm and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lauwarm#German - sorry, unable to find a better source on the spot

I'm not sure I agree, since there's words like "bookkeeper" that work fine—people just add a stop in front of the k sound and don't really think about it.

I never hear people say "bookkeeper" in everyday language. It's usually shortened to "bookie"

(US) A bookkeeper keeps formal records of finances. A bookie manages bets in gambling.

bookie (maybe this is UK) is usually short for book maker, not bookkeeper.

Ah yeah you are right, TIL they are different

Same in Australia!

roommate. school loan.

Those do not have hard stops in the middle.

True. But in both cases, you can pronounce the first vowel open or you can close it.

Roommate does, people just don’t use it.

Then it doesn’t.

lukecool would be pronounced loocool which would be a bathroom air conditioner.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_aequi

Not unlike roomate, which is really roommate.

rural juror?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rural_Juror

"Roar her, gem her?"

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