Is the “O” in “Opossum” silent or are (pronounced) “Possum” and “Opossum” 2 different species?

18 comments

1. >It is often simply referred to as an opossum, and in North America it is commonly referred to as a possum

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

2. [https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/possum-vs-opossum-difference-pronunciation](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/possum-vs-opossum-difference-pronunciation)

   ​

   Long story short, yes.

3. When we say possum we mean opossum. It’s not like anyone is going to get it confused with a different animal that lives on the other side of the planet or anything.

4. It’s opossum, but most people simply say possum.

   By the way, the opossum most North Americans know is the Virginia opossum. There are actually dozens of different opossum species, mostly in Central and South America.

   There’s also a group of marsupials called possums, named after their resemblance to the American animals. They live in Australia and New Guinea.

5. The O isn’t silent, but it is commonly omitted in casual speach, rendering the word as ‘possum.

6. > Possum. Big, freaky, lookin’ bitch. Since when did they change it to opossum? When I was comin’ up it was just possum. Opossum makes it sound like he’s Irish or something.

   -Jesse Pinkman

   They are the same thing. It’s commonly referred to as a “possum”.

7. Looks like this has been answered quite satisfactorily, but I will leave this here, an old gem of American folk literature, author unknown. Once a school child’s favorite, when many schoolchildren were still taught Latin as basic curriculum:

   https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/carmen-possum

8. It’s the same species, but people pronounce it differently. Opossum is the grammatically correct way. Think of the word possum kinda like a nick name.

9. I always said “possum,” silent O.

   Also I love these little guys! I accidentally caught one while trying to trap a woodchuck that had been under my shed, and damn it tasted great in a stew!

   Just kidding lol I let that little badass out so it could go on eating all the other undesirable critters back there.

   I caught it on my trail cam carrying a bunch of leaves with its tail a few times, which I didn’t know they could do, I guess it was building a nest somewhere.

   Any way, they’re cool with me.

10. It’s actually the Japanese honorific prefix “o-“, as the possum is a revered and respected animal. /s

11. the o is officially supposed to be pronounced, but many people leave it off anyway. opossums and possums are two different animals. opossums are in the americas and their name is from an indigenous american language. possums are in oceania and are named after opossums

12. I say opossum because that is the animal’s name.

13. They’re two different critters. Opossums live in the US and possums live in Australia.

14. I have always pronounced this word “opossum,” and I’ve quite often been ridiculed for it.

15. The original word is opossum, from the Powhatan word for the animal, which refers to the Virginia Opossum, the only species native to the USA. There are many other species in other parts of the Americas, also called Opossums, like, for example, the Peruvian short-tailed opossum. But if you hear an American just saying “an opossum” they are very unlikely to be talking about one of those.
    .
    Opossum, referring to the Virginia opossum, is commonly shortened to “possum” in common speech, and has been for ages.

    Back in the 1800’s, settlers to Australia applied the term possum/opossum to similar small marsupials on that continent.

    Eventually it became clear that the marsupials in Australia were actually quite different from those in the Americas, and there was a push to distinguish between them by referring to the American ones as “opossums” and the Australian ones as “possums” in more technical writing.

    So if you are hearing someone from the USA refer to “possums” informally, they are probably just talking about Virginia opossums. But if you are reading a book about marsupials, or talking to someone from Australia, what they mean by “possum” is an entirely different group of species than the Virginia Opossum.

16. A possum and an opossum are different animals. The opossum lives in America and the possum is an Australian animal. The American opossum is also frequently called a possum

17. Everything everyone here has said is correct. Now, just to throw a wrench in all of it:

    There *is* a [completely different group of animals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalangeriformes) in Australia known as “Possums”.

    So to answer your question about different species: yes and no. Technically yes, but absolutely no one in America saying “possum” will be referring to the Australian one, they are referring to [the screaming tree goblin](https://preview.redd.it/c0o1ky4bzo471.jpg?auto=webp&v=enabled&s=f7498c06eca17f3124d22148c7bca8f19d2372f2)

18. It’s a nickname, like “rhino”, but also it’s a different creature than the possums of Oceania.