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Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

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Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#61
- ifconfig: eye eff config (not “iff-config”)

- “#!”: hash bang (not “shub-ang”)

- sh: shuh like le as in le monde (not “ess ayche”)

- tcl: tickle

One of the hardest for me though is on a different topic to pronunciation. What name would you give to a variable that keeps track of the current working directory? What name did bash use for this variable?

Answers (for me):

- pwd: is “print working directory”

- $PWD: is “pcurrent working directory”, the P is silent.

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#64

- ifconfig: eye eff config (not “iff-config”) - “#!”: hash bang (not “shub-ang”) - sh: shuh like le as in le monde (not “ess ayche”) - tcl: tickle One of the hardest for me though is on a different topic to pronunciation. What name would you give to a variable that keeps track of the current working directory? What name did bash use for this variable? Answers (for me): - pwd: is “print working directory” - $PWD: is “…

I think of pwd as “present working directory”, but I have no idea where I got this from.

And, it’s always a shebang line :)

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#65
post #9
post #2

This is one of those surprisingly useful and obvious things that I'm surprised not to have seen before. Knowledge of (including pronunciation) jargon is a classic gatekeeper In my experience, I'm in the minority in pronouncing sudo as soodoo, the majority seem to say pseudo. OTOH I've never heard anyone say fsck as anything other than f-suck From personal experience at Microsoft the backslash was frequently pronounce…

I was a su-dough person until I realise that sudo stands for 'super user do' or 'su do', so I switched to soodoo - it makes a lot more sense that way. f-suck is a new one for me though. I would say F S C K to someone else, but I call it fusk in my head.

I have always “heard” F sick in my head for fsck

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#66
post #29
post #8

MySQL pronunciation can be "My S Q L" or "My Sequel." I think most people in the community probably use the latter, but truthfully most of us don't really care. The "S Q L" vs. "Sequel" split has existed almost as long as SQL itself. The original name for the language was "SEQUEL." [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL#History

FWIW, much like a linguistic accent or regional dialect, using "sequel" tends to make you sound more like a Microsoft developer (definitely to people from my generation). This has been merging a bit in the last decade (mostly as the linguistic traditions of subcultures in general have been eroding from Eternal September and an entire generation passing), but it is still notable enough that people bring it up occasion…

I pronounced the individual letters until I called Microsoft support one day and the automated prompts said something like "For Microsoft 'Sequel' Server, press 3".

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#67
"Joe said "cat proc cpuinfo". Scott wasn't getting it so Joe said "no.. no, type cat slash proc slash cpuinfo" and eventually got on the keyboard himself." This part really resonated with me. I always find it hard to tell commands to people. Anyway I never reach for their keyboard. I try to take the blame myself for not spelling out the command correcty, this way they don't feel mistaken and take a defensive stance.

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#68

I always say 'bin' as 'bine' in relation to the folder. This is a hill I will die on. It's short for binary. And a 'bin' is where you put your rubbish, not your hard work.

This kind of flipped a switch in my brain, that makes a lot more sense than the "trash bin" pronunciation.

However, I will continue saying "bin" because old habits die hard and "bine" just sounds wrong to my brain for no good reason :)

Re: Common pronunciations of Linux directories, commands, etc. (2017)

#69
post #10

> chmod: as one syllable.. rhymes with 'nod' This is easy to do for many? In my experience, Anglo-Saxons can seldom pronounce “ GNU ” in one syllable, but they can this?

I have no idea how to pronounce this as one syllable, it's always been che-mod to me. Chown is one syllable though, I agree there.

Cho-oon is one syllable? No way :)
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