Genuinely great thread. Remember this when a tedious debates starts about "filay or fillet" or "or-EG-ano" vs "ore-GAR-no" or how Brits say tacos. I'm guilty of snobbery on bad days - this spirit I love. (As for Thoreau, I've no opinion but to note the modern reaction against the transcendalists.)

Nu-ku-lar will never not annoy me, but I've learned over the years that my personal language foibles are just that -- personal. If that's how someone else says it, I just grit my teeth and stick to the point. It's not exactly a moral purity test to be a grammar stickler.