this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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[–] cm0002 3 points 1 month ago (5 children)

No. That's how we end up with stupid sounding crap like (ugh) "Gooey" for GUI. Just say G-U-I or A-I.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (4 children)

till (today I learned) some people say G - U - I and not gooey

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

The first time I heard the term gooey it was from someone I don't like so now I can't stand it. All I can think about is buying that dude a toothbrush, but then he'd probably go on about how toothbrushes are actually bad for your health.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've always said the letters and was surprised when I heard someone say 'gooey' when I entered college.

Still don't like it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

no one likes being wrong

[–] SmoothLiquidation 3 points 1 month ago

At my last job I helped design VUIs, voice user interface. We called them “vooeys”.

[–] cm0002 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

some people say G - U - I

It should be that way always, frankly, I don't know why gooey even got started. Something "gooey" is the last thing I'd want associated with computer stuff

But I loathe all of the stupid attempts at shoehorning pronunciations of initialisms where it doesn't belong

It's not "Sequel" its fucking S-Q-L. They're all initialisms. I will go through my entire IT career and die on this hill.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do you say J-P-E-G instead of jay-peg?

[–] cm0002 -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

No because jay-peg actually makes sense and fits well, just like NASA makes sense and fits well. You can say NASA and JPEG without having to introduce additional letters to make it work. Unlike "Gooey", "Sequel", or "Scuzzy" which all require the addon of more letters to actually work

You can just see JPEG and intuitively go "Oh Jay-PEG" you can't say the same for SCSI

[–] SpaceNoodle -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You have to "add" letters for JPEG to be pronounceable.

[–] cm0002 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Where? you can pronounce "J" 2 ways. "Je" and "Jay"

"PEG" stands on its own, and it's also a word, "peg"

So when you pronounce Jay-PEG you're just sounding out the "J" and pronouncing the word "PEG". No letters have been added to make it pronounceable

In contrast to "Sequel"/SQL where you need to add a vowel "e" and a consonant "u" to get "sequel"

[–] SpaceNoodle -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You literally added the A and the Y to say "jay."

[–] cm0002 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

LMAO that was just for easier visualization of the pronunciation of the letter J

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

Its usual name in English is jay (pronounced /ˈdʒeɪ/)

[–] SpaceNoodle 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

And you're not saying "Jay Pee Ee Gee."

Why make a bizarre exception for one letter?

[–] cm0002 -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

See previous reply:

"PEG" stands on its own, and it's also a word, "peg"

[–] SpaceNoodle 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

See previous comment:

And you're not saying "Jay Pee Ee Gee."

Why make a bizarre exception for one letter?

Do you pronounce GIF "Gee-if?"

[–] SmoothLiquidation 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I suppose you called them small computer system interface drives instead of SCSI drives too.

[–] cm0002 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I just say S-C-S-I instead of "Scuzzy" or whatever it is

Everyone says H-T-T-P, why don't they say "Hettep"‽

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nah, it's scuzzy.

And when I'm trolling, I say "huh-tu-tu-puh" for HTTP.

[–] cm0002 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

To get Scuzzy you have to fundamentally modify SCSI and break a few grammatical rules

In English, "S" before a consonant typically retains its standard /s/ sound (as in "stop" or "snow"). Pronouncing "SCSI" as "Scuzzy" violates this by softening the second "S" into a /z/ sound before the consonant "Z," which doesn't follow the rule where "S" remains /s/ unless a voicing context (such as between two vowels) alters it.

English has rules governing when consonants are "soft" (like "S" becoming /z/) or "hard" (like "C" becoming /k/). In "SCSI," these letters maintain their distinct pronunciations, but when forced into "Scuzzy," the "C" becomes part of a hard /sk/ sound, and the second "S" is softened into /z/. These changes are not guided by typical English consonant-hardening rules, especially since "SCSI" does not include the contextual elements that normally trigger these shifts (e.g., vowel placement following "C" in certain cases).

You also have to add whole new vowels like "u" and "y"

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The C is hard because the second word is "Computer." The O in "Computer" becomes a "u" sound because "scossy" sounds odd.

[–] cm0002 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Irrelevant, acronyms and initialisms don't depend on the underlying words they stand for beyond the first letter of each word. You can't use the word underlying C or any of the other letters for grammatical justification or pronunciation.

Each letter must stand on its own and be governed by pronunciation rules independently of its underlying word, if it cannot form a sensible pronounceable word (Like FBI, CIA, SQL, SCSI) on its own it's an initialism. If it can (Like NASA) then it's an acronym.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nah, there are no such rules, like anything else, initialisms are defined by speakers of the language, and that's what industry professionals seem to use most often.

[–] cm0002 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

what industry professionals seem to use most often.

Lol ok, if you want to change to that set of rules, I am an industry professional. Fairly deep into my IT career, and I will absolutely get on to any of my people if I see "Scuzzy" (Not that that particular one will ever come up again, fairly out of date lmao) or "Sequel" or any of that other bull

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Maybe it's a regional thing, or maybe you're just a hothead, hard to tell.

Either way, in my region, "scuzzy" and "sequel" are the dominant pronunciations for SCSI and SQL in my field.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Don't even start with PCMCIA

[–] SpaceNoodle 2 points 1 month ago

It's not "sequel," it's "squirrel."

[–] SpaceNoodle 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No, GUI is a great acronym.

I had a colleague pronounce CLI as an acronym, though, and that stopped a meeting short.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] SpaceNoodle 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

He said it like "klee"

He'll probably never live it down

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ah, I thought it was like "clit," but missing the "t." That could get you sent to HR...

[–] SpaceNoodle 1 points 1 month ago
[–] A7thStone 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's been called a gooey since at least the mid 80s. All you kids get off my lawn.

[–] cm0002 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Then it's been wrong since the mid-80s and also becomes probable someone just did it as a joke and then it persisted

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Nope, G-U-I is objectively wrong. Get off A7thStone's lawn, we're having a nice chat.

[–] A7thStone 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Or counterpoint, you're wrong and you should feel bad.

[–] cm0002 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nah, and I can prove it ~~math~~gramatically

In order to make GUI pronounceable you have to add in vowels and blend consonants and fundamentally changes it's pronociation. GUI is meant to have each letter on its own, and on their own those letters cannot make the "oo" and "ee" sounds

On their own they make the following pronunciations:

G: Pronounced as /dʒi/

U: Pronounced as /ju/ (like "you")

I: Pronounced as /aɪ/ (like "eye"), with a long "i" sound

In contrast, true acronyms like "NASA" form a pronounceable word naturally without requiring any modifications, making "Gooey" a grammatically improper pronunciation of "GUI."

[–] A7thStone 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You're right everyone pronounces taxi as tax eye. You're actually trying to dictate pronunciation in English?

[–] cm0002 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"Taxi" comes from the French word "taximètre" and its shortened form "taxi," which itself comes from the Latin "taxa," meaning charge or rate. In this case, the "i" at the end of "taxi" is pronounced as a short vowel sound (/ɪ/), like the "i" in "sit," rather than a long "eye" sound (/aɪ/). English has phonetic rules where an "i" at the end of a word is pronounced as a short vowel when preceded by a consonant, especially when the word has a foreign language origin. This contrasts with words like "alibi" or "butterfly," where the "i" is part of a longer syllable or a diphthong. Therefore, "Taxi" is pronounced "tak-see" following these conventions.

You're actually trying to dictate pronunciation in English?

Wym? This is an English community and the thread is about English initialisms, acronyms and words. Why would I not reference English grammatical rules?

[–] A7thStone 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I bet you pronounced midi as mid eye

[–] cm0002 2 points 1 month ago

The final "i" follows the convention of being pronounced as a short vowel (/ɪ/), like in "mini" or "city." This contrasts with words like "pie" or "die," where the "i" is part of a diphthong (/aɪ/). Also, "MIDI" is an acronym where the letters form a pronounceable word without modification, and in such cases, a short "i" is more common when it's in the middle or at the end of the word. Hence, "mid-ee" sticks to these phonetic rules

[–] angrystego 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

TIL you can pronounce it "Gooey" - aww, people are wierd but creative!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Funny having the opposite realization. Wonder how many times each of us have heard others pronounce GUI. You in the US?

Hard for me to estimate now that I think about it

[–] bitchkat 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've probably said GUI tens of thousands of times. Have you ever heard some pronounce SQL as squeal?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

LOL

Thankfully absolutely not

[–] Cadeillac 1 points 1 month ago

'I' before 'E' except after 'W'

It's easy to remember because it rhymes

[–] TheGiantKorean 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago
[–] ThePantser 3 points 1 month ago

I always said Wizz-e-wig