Pronunciation Pronouncements

[Thomas A. Fine]

On this weeks WAN show, Linus mispronounced Gaussian.  He then "jokingly" pronounced it correctly but then said that it was a joke and that his mispronunciation was correct.

 

No.

It is GOW-see-uhn.  It is NOT GOW-shun.  It's named after a German mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, who's name in both German and English is pronounced with an "S" sound, not an "SH" sound.  And every dictionary and source, and every math teacher I ever had, pronounces it with an "S" sound.  Maybe he was double-joking?  But he deadpanned it.  And I mean really deadpanned it, not his usual deadpan, pause, smirk.  I think he really thinks the wrong pronunciation is right.

 

The worst part is that I've seen people on Corridor Crew (who should definitely know better) also get this wrong.  This can not turn into a thing.  As Luke said, THERE ARE RULES!!!!

 

DAMMIT!!!!

 

Also, the first "C" in Oscilloscope  is silent.  I'll let myself believe that this one is just a joke, because it was Riley (I think).  But... NO.  Pronounce it right!  It was even in an ad spot.

 

I may not be entitled to many things in this world, but I am 100% entitled to force other human beings to pronounce words correctly. It's in the official Old White Male Instruction Manual (1.0).

[Jurrunio]

4 minutes ago, Thomas A. Fine said:

Also, the first "C" in Oscilloscope  is silent.  I'll let myself believe that this one is just a joke, because it was Riley (I think).  But... NO.  Pronounce it right!  It was even in an ad spot.

So you pronounce "oscillate" without the c?

[Thomas A. Fine]

Just now, Jurrunio said:

So you pronounce "oscillate" without the c?

You're effing with me, right?

[AbydosOne]

1 hour ago, Jurrunio said:

So you pronounce "oscillate" without the c?

Yeah. It's "os·sill·ate", not "os·kill·ate".

 

1 hour ago, Thomas A. Fine said:

Also, the first "C" in Oscilloscope  is silent.  I'll let myself believe that this one is just a joke, because it was Riley (I think).  But... NO.  Pronounce it right!  It was even in an ad spot.

Yeah, I very nearly made a post on that one because it makes LTT look very bad to anyone to whom that ad would be relevant. 

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, Thomas A. Fine said:

You're effing with me, right?

Just like English effing with foreign speakers 

[Needfuldoer]

On 10/7/2023 at 11:11 PM, AbydosOne said:

Yeah. It's "os·sill·ate", not "os·kill·ate".

 

Yeah, I very nearly made a post on that one because it makes LTT look very bad to anyone to whom that ad would be relevant. 

I'm in 'Murica and I've only ever heard it pronounced "uh-sill-a-scope". 

 

EDIT: And "Gaussian" is one of those words I've never heard pronounced, only read, so I assumed it was "GAW-shun".

Edited October 9, 2023 by Needfuldoer

[DeerDK]

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse wh**e. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

-James D. Nicoll

[Avocado Diaboli]

On 10/8/2023 at 3:53 AM, Thomas A. Fine said:

The worst part is that I've seen people on Corridor Crew (who should definitely know better) also get this wrong.

Pretty much all native English-speakers working in graphics get this wrong, because Gaussian functions get used often in that sector. Same thing with Gouraud shading, native English-speakers will inevitably mispronounce Gouraud's name.

[Dillpickle23422]

On 10/8/2023 at 7:09 AM, Needfuldoer said:

I'm in 'Murica and I've only ever heard it pronounced "uh-sill-a-scope". 

 

EDIT: And "Gaussian" is one of those words I've never heard pronounced, only read, so I assumed it was "GAW-shun".

From the midwest, I've heard it uh-sill-a-scope and ah-sill-a-scope. 

[djksm]

On 10/7/2023 at 9:53 PM, Thomas A. Fine said:

On this weeks WAN show, Linus mispronounced Gaussian.  He then "jokingly" pronounced it correctly but then said that it was a joke and that his mispronunciation was correct.

 

No.

It is GOW-see-uhn.  It is NOT GOW-shun.  It's named after a German mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, who's name in both German and English is pronounced with an "S" sound, not an "SH" sound.  And every dictionary and source, and every math teacher I ever had, pronounces it with an "S" sound.  Maybe he was double-joking?  But he deadpanned it.  And I mean really deadpanned it, not his usual deadpan, pause, smirk.  I think he really thinks the wrong pronunciation is right.

 

The worst part is that I've seen people on Corridor Crew (who should definitely know better) also get this wrong.  This can not turn into a thing.  As Luke said, THERE ARE RULES!!!!

 

DAMMIT!!!!

 

Also, the first "C" in Oscilloscope  is silent.  I'll let myself believe that this one is just a joke, because it was Riley (I think).  But... NO.  Pronounce it right!  It was even in an ad spot.

 

I may not be entitled to many things in this world, but I am 100% entitled to force other human beings to pronounce words correctly. It's in the official Old White Male Instruction Manual (1.0).

*sigh* why do people do this... its freakin annoying

[da na]

So what we have learned is that there is no universally agreed upon way to pronounce certain words, I suppose.

[deathrow]

Thanks for the recap

[Thomas A. Fine]

On 10/9/2023 at 9:43 PM, da na said:

So what we have learned is that there is no universally agreed upon way to pronounce certain words, I suppose.

Did you not see that, because I am old and male, I am entitled to make all of you pronounce the words to my satisfaction?

Jeeez Louise.  Get with the program.

[Thomas A. Fine]

On 10/9/2023 at 5:42 AM, Avocado Diaboli said:

Pretty much all native English-speakers working in graphics get this wrong, because Gaussian functions get used often in that sector. Same thing with Gouraud shading, native English-speakers will inevitably mispronounce Gouraud's name.

So when I got my engineering degree at Ohio State, I took a specialization in graphics, taking every grad-level graphics course I could (And OSU had one of the best programs in the nation for computer graphics; movie credits were filled with OSU grads, many that I knew personally).

 

And every single professor there knew how to say Gaussian (and Gouraud).  Granted, in the mid '80s, computer science departments were still dominated by mathematicians.***  At any rate, I have no idea where we went from functioning edumacation, to this. Maybe it's a sign that there's far more self-taught people these days doing the job than there are formally trained people?  Still, you'd think the college people would tell the self-taught group how to speak English.

 

On 10/9/2023 at 8:28 AM, Dillpickle23422 said:

From the midwest, I've heard it uh-sill-a-scope and ah-sill-a-scope. 

My Dad was an electronics engineer, and he raised me to say "uh SILL uh scope".  In the Midwest, but he was from New England.  Not sure where "AH SILL uh scope" would come from, although I guess it is "AH sill ate" for oscillate.  In any case there is non KILL in oscilloscope.  Riley.

 

(***And sometime let me explain how it is that a bunch of mathematicians invented an engineering discipline, and how that explains why software engineering is so deeply f**ked compared to other engineering disciplines.  Although to be fair it's probably another one of those "old man yells at cloud" sort of things.)

[Thomas A. Fine]

IMPORANT UPADTE!!!

 

In last week's WAN Show, Luke came close to pronouncing Gaussian correctly (GAW see uhn instead of GOW see uhn, but that's way better than GOW shun).  @LinusTech didn't even blink an eye, which clearly means he's hiding the error of his ways, as there is no other possible explanation in existence.

 

Now I just have to get Corridor Crew to pronounce it (close to) correctly, and my life's mission will be complete.

[LinusTech]

On 10/7/2023 at 8:11 PM, AbydosOne said:

Yeah, I very nearly made a post on that one because it makes LTT look very bad to anyone to whom that ad would be relevant. 

No, it only makes us look bad to pedants who can't see the forest of jokes through the trees of minor errors. Riley goes on in that spot to pronounce pretty much everything wrong... It's obviously on purpose.

 

As for Gaussian, I was going based on what I heard in school. Duly noted, but I'll probably forget

[AbydosOne]

1 hour ago, LinusTech said:

No, it only makes us look bad to pedants who can't see the forest of jokes through the trees of minor errors. Riley goes on in that spot to pronounce pretty much everything wrong... It's obviously on purpose.

oh hi, I don't normally talk to big Youtubers every day. *starstruck*

 

So I dug back for that video to make sure I wasn't crazy. The bit I'm referencing was the sponsor spot at the end of "Google's "Trust Me Bro" Guarantee - Linus Reacts to Made By Google 23".

 

As far as I can tell, "oscilloscope" is the only mispronounced word (the others listed being "made up" as Riley alluded to, but only after listing other items by their proper names). If it was intentional, I guess it tread a little too close to the Poe's Law line of "does he not know, or is it part of the bit" and I missed the bit. I actually originally stuck around on that sponsor spot longer than I usually do because it was electronic equipment and I'm an electrical engineer. My EE brain wasn't expecting to hear a fairly common "industry" word mispronounced in a way that would be a logical (but, maybe, uninformed?). The "plants need electrolytes" line made me raise my eyebrow, but I'm also not a botanist/biologist, so I didn't (and still don't) know if that's the start of the bit or an actual simile.

 

Would appreciate a follow-up, but FWIW I haven't really noticed any other issues like this one (and my job is basically professional nit-picking lol). Thanks Linus .

[Spotty]

3 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

The "plants need electrolytes" line made me raise my eyebrow, but I'm also not a botanist/biologist, so I didn't (and still don't) know if that's the start of the bit or an actual simile.

It's a line from the movie Idiocracy. 

[AbydosOne]

1 minute ago, Spotty said:

It's a line from the movie Idiocracy. 

Yep, we're definitely in Poe's Law territory then. Never seen the movie (yet), so the reference (and ergo, the tone of the bit) went way over my head.

[Thomas A. Fine]

4 hours ago, LinusTech said:

No, it only makes us look bad to pedants who can't see the forest of jokes through the trees of minor errors. Riley goes on in that spot to pronounce pretty much everything wrong... It's obviously on purpose.

 

As for Gaussian, I was going based on what I heard in school. Duly noted, but I'll probably forget

You were supposed to misspell "pedants" so that I could correct you and then you could say "see what I mean".  Two demerits.

[LinusTech]

3 hours ago, AbydosOne said:

oh hi, I don't normally talk to big Youtubers every day. *starstruck*

 

So I dug back for that video to make sure I wasn't crazy. The bit I'm referencing was the sponsor spot at the end of "Google's "Trust Me Bro" Guarantee - Linus Reacts to Made By Google 23".

 

As far as I can tell, "oscilloscope" is the only mispronounced word (the others listed being "made up" as Riley alluded to, but only after listing other items by their proper names). If it was intentional, I guess it tread a little too close to the Poe's Law line of "does he not know, or is it part of the bit" and I missed the bit. I actually originally stuck around on that sponsor spot longer than I usually do because it was electronic equipment and I'm an electrical engineer. My EE brain wasn't expecting to hear a fairly common "industry" word mispronounced in a way that would be a logical (but, maybe, uninformed?). The "plants need electrolytes" line made me raise my eyebrow, but I'm also not a botanist/biologist, so I didn't (and still don't) know if that's the start of the bit or an actual simile.

 

Would appreciate a follow-up, but FWIW I haven't really noticed any other issues like this one (and my job is basically professional nit-picking lol). Thanks Linus .

It was on purpose. You weren't the only one to whoosh on this one so I was probably a little cranky in my response becuase of all the responses at that time along the lines of "see this is what I'm talking about. They make so many mistakes lol" 

 

Such is life. 

[TylerD321]

3 hours ago, Spotty said:

It's a line from the movie Idiocracy. 

It’s what they crave!

 

4 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

It was on purpose. You weren't the only one to whoosh on this one so I was probably a little cranky in my response becuase of all the responses at that time along the lines of "see this is what I'm talking about. They make so many mistakes lol" 

 

Such is life. 

I’m a mechanical engineer and personally the only thing that truly matters how you pronounce are people’s name. Even then, you don’t have to pronounce them correctly as long as you make a genuine effort.

 

You’d be shocked how many different ways industry terms are spoken depending on the plant or even in department level of the same company. 

[Needfuldoer]

5 hours ago, htimsenyawed said:

I also had a guy pronounce alumni as aluminum.

"ah-LOO-min-UM" or "AL-you-MINI-um"?

 

5 hours ago, htimsenyawed said:

Oh, and OSB (orientated strand board) as SOB. 

Given the number of splinters I've gotten from the edges of that stuff, that tracks.

[GoStormPlays]

while we're on the topic, where did @LinusTech get his idea for the incorrect pronunciation for 'Temu' lol

[RomantheFabulous]

On 10/9/2023 at 1:28 PM, Dillpickle23422 said:

From the midwest, I've heard it uh-sill-a-scope and ah-sill-a-scope. 

So it seems only the British pronounce it correctly then.