Pronounciation of GIF Options

[Christian J]

http://www.olsenhome.com/gif/

"The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations," Mr. Wilhite said. "They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story."

Speaking of which, MySQL is allegedly named after the Swedish creator's daugther, My. AFAIK that name in turn is not pronounced like the English word "my" (or "mine"), but more like "mycelium" (I think).

This post has been edited by Christian J: May 22 2013, 02:31 PM

[Brian Chandler]

Unfortunately, in English pronunciation the start of 'mycelium' is exactly the same as 'my'; and English speakers typically cannot make a (Swedish/IPA) 'y' sound anyway, and American speakers know nothing about IPA either, so they have to write something like "mew".

FWIW, I always say /maisk(w)l/, though it sounds awkward, and I say /gif/ not /djif/. The Oxford Dictionary people are actually correct though, that the pronunciation is how people actually pronounce it, not how the originator thought it _should_ be pronounced.

Here's a curiosity: Imagine an English spelling game, for the five short vowels 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', and 'u'. I say a form with 'a', like 'bat', and all you have to do is write down the five cases, which in this example are actually all words...

bat bet bit bot but

Or a longer example (some not actual words):

sprang spreng spring sprong sprung

The astonishing thing is that I can say one you can't write down... (You believe me?)

[Christian J]

English speakers typically cannot make a (Swedish/IPA) 'y' sound anyway

Doesn't the "y" in "any" or "mystery" sound correct if you make it last slightly longer (like "anyyy"), or is it just my own mis-pronounciation? (Assuming you don't say "an eye" or "majstery".)

FWIW, I always say /maisk(w)l/, though it sounds awkward, and I say /gif/ not /djif/.

I don't think even Swedish MySQL users use the other pronounciation, OTOH I haven't talked with many of them.

I also say P-N-G and U-R-L, not "ping" or "earl".

(You believe me?)

That sounds like a trap...

[pandy]

I also say P N G but I say url (as a word, Swedish pronunciation). I have no idea how it's generally pronounced or if people find my way odd. They usually don't understand what I talk about anyway.

[Brian Chandler]

Doesn't the "y" in "any" or "mystery" sound correct if you make it last slightly longer (like "anyyy"), or is it just my own mis-pronounciation? (Assuming you don't say "an eye" or "majstery".)

Don't think so. Unless I'm very confused the Scandinavian 'y' is like German u-umlaut, basically 'i' with the lips rounded. "We don't do that."

That sounds like a trap...

Well, yes. You can easily write:

bag beg big bog bug (all words!)
strap strep strip strop strup
strangle strengle stringle strongle strungle
... etc etc. But now try completing the line that starts:

squaggle

[pandy]

If some of the words that creates are dirty, I don't know them.

[Brian Chandler]

If some of the words that creates are dirty, I don't know them.

Only one is a real word, none is dirty, but you can't write one of them down.

[Christian J]

Unless I'm very confused the Scandinavian 'y' is like German u-umlaut, basically 'i' with the lips rounded. "We don't do that."

How do English-speaking pronounce "cynical" then?

But now try completing the line that starts:

squaggle

Based on the u or the a? Or does the trap consist of the use of two vowels? In that case I cheat by pronouncing the u silent:

sqaggle
sqeggle
sqiggle
sqoggle
squggle

[Christian J]

If some of the words that creates are dirty, I don't know them.

Is that why you often type "beep" in your posts?

[Brian Chandler]

squggle

Two rules of English spelling:

(1) 'qu' _must_ be followed by a vowel
(2) You cannot have two 'u's in a row
(Corollary to (2): Good job too, because if you could have two 'u's in a row it would be read "double-U", which would be a different letter altogether.

"Cynical" starts exactly the same as "sin".

[Darin McGrew]

(2) You cannot have two 'u's in a row

That leaves quite a vacuum in the English language, don't you think?

And FWIW, I pronounce them:
GIF - [hard G] giff
MySQL - my sequel
JPEG - jay peg
PNG - pee en jee
URL - you are ell
Cynical - sin ick ull

[Brian Chandler]

(2) You cannot have two 'u's in a row

That leaves quite a vacuum in the English language, don't you think?

Well done! So do you think you can write "squuggle"?

[pandy]

sin ick ull

That's a little critical of one of our ancient Swedish gods. Christian and I are deeply offended. Especially Christian since he still believes in them.

[jimlongo]

As long as you don't say "my sequel" you're okay in my books.

[Darin McGrew]

As long as you don't say "my sequel" you're okay in my books.

So how do you pronounce SQL and MySQL?

[jimlongo]

Personally,

SQL = Sequel as in Microsoft Sequel Server (that's what they call it so I'll go with that)

sql = S-Q-L if you are talking about "structured query language"

MySQL I pronounce as my-S-Q-L

But I'm adaptable. I just finished working for the last 6 weeks with a very talented "Cockney" programmer who had trouble pronouncing "R"s and always referred to ULL's - you just get used to it.