this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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nginx ("engine x") is an HTTP web server, reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer, TCP/UDP proxy server, and mail proxy server. […] [1]

I still pronounce it as "n-jinx" in my head.

References

  1. Title (website): "nginx". Publisher: NGINX. Accessed: 2025-02-26T23:25Z. URI: https://nginx.org/en/.
    • §"nginx". ¶1.
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[–] ohshittheyknow@lemmynsfw.com 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

TIL some people pronounced it n-jinx

[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

I mean every time I hear about the damn thing it's because it's been misconfigured and is causing some fucking ruckus. The whole thing is cursed so jinx really feels appropriate where I'm standing from.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 47 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I laughed out loud when I first learned that imgur is supposed to be pronounced as "imager'... well you fuckin chose the wrong combination of letters for that didn't ya

[–] iconic_admin@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (4 children)

1000% I say gif too, like gift. If you wanted it pronounced like “jiff” then you should have spelled it with a J.

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[–] dan@upvote.au 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Am I missing something? I've always pronounced it "imager". How else would you pronounce it?

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (3 children)

as it's spelled: im gur.

It's one thing to name it imgr, but putting a fucking u after the g makes it a hard g in literally every instance. the letter u is the reason the g is pronounced as a hard g in words that otherwise wouldn't need a u: fragile / guile, digest / guest, etc.

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

as it's spelled: im gur.

"I'm gur"?

Tony... Is that you?

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[–] EffortlessEffluvium@lemm.ee 35 points 3 days ago (3 children)

And I will always pronounce SQL as “squeal”

[–] SlothMama@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago (3 children)
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[–] gnu@lemmy.zip 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

My brain first interpreted SQL as 'squirrel' and that now refuses to relinquish its claim as default pronunciation in my mind.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 130 points 4 days ago (35 children)

And JSON is pronounced “javascripton“

[–] KickMeElmo@sopuli.xyz 88 points 4 days ago

Oh my god it's Javascripton Bourne!

[–] catharso@discuss.tchncs.de 36 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Occasionally i feel myself longing back to the good ol' JSOFF times.

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[–] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 91 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (10 children)

There's a linux file called fstab which is often pronounced f-s-tab because it's a table of file systems. It was somewhat surprising to hear Dave Plummer pronounce it as "f-stab", as in stabbing someone...

[–] Deebster@programming.dev 1 points 7 hours ago

I guess some people might go with f-s-tayb, but I wouldn't necessary recognise what they were saying.

[–] Classy@sh.itjust.works 64 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It'll forever be F-stab in my head

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[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 31 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Whereas fsck, short for "file system check", should be pronounced "fisk" when someone in a suit is around, otherwise it's "fuck".

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[–] CameronDev@programming.dev 95 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I've been pronouncing it N-gin-X, which is probably close enough once slurred together

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[–] ad_on_is@lemm.ee 46 points 4 days ago (10 children)
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[–] FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I think software name pronunciation discussions are so hilariously absurd that I sometimes purposefully vocalise nginx as “Nuhh Ginks” just to put a hat on it

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 days ago

En Guh Inks

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[–] zod000@lemmy.ml 28 points 3 days ago (5 children)

I've never heard it pronounced any other way than "engine x".

[–] Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 3 days ago

I've never heard it pronounced. Which is why I also thought it was "n-jinx"

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[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 49 points 4 days ago

I've always pronounced it "not-Apache"

[–] Opisek@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

My lead dev used to pronounce it njinx and I always needed some time to realize what he's talking about.

[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 59 points 4 days ago (4 children)
[–] Admetus@sopuli.xyz 22 points 3 days ago (4 children)

As always, first impressions count. There is no way I'm starting to call it engine x now, except for fun.

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[–] vanta@lemm.ee 44 points 4 days ago (7 children)

like how curl in my head is "curl" and not "c-url"

[–] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 4 days ago

It is pronounced like "curl" though!

We pronounce curl with an initial k sound. It rhymes with words like girl and earl. This is a short WAV file to help you:

https://media.merriam-webster.com/soundc11/c/curl0001.wav

https://curl.se/docs/faq.html#What_is_cURL

[–] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 27 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

…it's not "curl"?

EDIT (2025-02-27T04:15Z):

cURL (pronounced like "curl", /kɜːrl/) […] [1]

🤔

References

  1. Title (article): "cURL". Publisher: Wikipedia. Published: 2025-02-20T12:12Z. Accessed: 2025-02-27T04:17Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CURL.
    • ¶1
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[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)
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[–] Dultas@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Wait till you find out about quay

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 19 points 3 days ago (14 children)

I thought it was pronounced N-G-N-X

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[–] diemartin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

En-eh hinks (with heavy Spanish accent)

[–] androidul@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

similar problem with kubectl

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[–] Kelly@programming.dev 22 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

My workplace calls it "n-jinx", we know its nonstandard but its still what is understood by the team.

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

When I first heard someone say SCSI out loud describing the drives in a server, I responded with, "No, they're actually high-end drives."

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[–] 000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago

Now you'll tell me it's not pronounced Hap Roxy!

[–] Railcar8095@lemm.ee 12 points 3 days ago
[–] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago

https://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/SillySounds/english.ogg (from back when many english speakers were still insistent that the i in Linux should be pronounced "eye")

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