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submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

I do

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[-] SonicBlue03@sh.itjust.works 44 points 10 months ago

I pronounce it data. Guess I thought everyone did.

[-] AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml 11 points 10 months ago
[-] ettyblatant@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I know it's me just being a particular asshole, but I really don't like the pronunciation data... it's honestly tiresome, problematic, and outdated. It's pronounced DATA.

[-] Lemmy_2019@lemmy.one 5 points 10 months ago

Me too. Out of interest do you pronounce it 'gif' as well?

[-] Etterra@discuss.online 43 points 10 months ago
[-] deranger@sh.itjust.works 21 points 10 months ago

I vacillate between the two. Really depends on the words surrounding “data”.

[-] deadcatbounce@reddthat.com 14 points 10 months ago
[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

Exactly what I was gonna say.

[-] criitz@reddthat.com 14 points 10 months ago

I only say data the way it's said in Star Trek. Same for database.

[-] Corno@lemm.ee 13 points 10 months ago

I alternate between the two pronunciations depending on whatever I vibe with at the time, much like with how I spell colour/color

[-] Jerb322@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago

A local radio DJ said once that if he's feeling fancy he says "Da Ta" like "ta-da!" Cracked me up way more that it should have.

[-] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

I do, but that's because "now these points of data make a beautiful line, and we're out of beta, we're releasing on time."

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[-] jsomae@lemmy.ml 9 points 10 months ago

I pronounce it like that, but I call the character "dah-ta"

[-] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 10 months ago

One is his name, the other is not

[-] jsomae@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago

I know it's wrong, but it's ok right? 👉 👈

[-] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 10 months ago

If Data had feelings, he'd be very upset right now.

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[-] PunkRockSportsFan@fanaticus.social 7 points 10 months ago

For his name I say data but when talking about data I say data but when I say database I say data and when I watch 1986’s Willow with Warwick Davis I say data

[-] shiny_idea@aussie.zone 4 points 10 months ago

What does Willow (1986) have to do with data? Isn't it, like, a sword-and-sorcery fantasy movie?

Oh I bet there's a character with a name that sounds like the word "data".

[-] PunkRockSportsFan@fanaticus.social 6 points 10 months ago

You should probably watch willow. It’s not terrible. Val kilmer with a sword.

[-] pwnicholson@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

There's a kid who calls her father dada (dadda?...sp?) throughout the movie

[-] AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago
[-] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

American. Day-duh.

Data: First, the two A's/vowels:

The first of two A's gets the "Aey" sound, the second gets the "Ah" sound.

Then, because I'm from California, the ah becomes uh.

Then, similarly, the "tuh" has a hard T at the beginning. But again because California/USA, the T becomes a D (British: butter ("buttah", hard t's), usa: budder(soft t's or d's))

Thus: day-duh.

[-] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 10 months ago

I don’t know, because I have no idea how the Star Trek character says it…

[-] bobbyfiend@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago

I've taught statistics for over 20 years. I flipflop on this constantly, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. Even more disturbing: I don't have a consistent position, at least grammatically, on whether it's singular or plural.

[-] eRac@lemmings.world 3 points 10 months ago

It's sort of like the dual pronunciation of the word 'a' in English. While that has more distinct rules, it's still mostly which one feels nicer.

[-] christian@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Another one for me is "route".

edit: On further thought, it only works both ways as a synonym for a highway, if I'm talking about a path more generally the root pronunciation sounds wrong.

[-] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

I use them interchangeably 🙈

[-] buffysummers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

It is pronounced /ˈdætə/.

[-] meekah@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive.

[-] communism@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago

How else are you supposed to pronounce it?

[-] gobble_ghoul@hexbear.net 3 points 10 months ago

There are three variants I’m aware of: /eɪ/ as in “day”, /æ/ as in “dad”, and /ɑː/ as in “spa”. I personally say it with /æ/.

[-] executivechimp@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 10 months ago

Brits pronounce it day-ta, Americans, Canadians and Australians pronounce it dah-ta. Data pronounces it Day-ta.

[-] lukecooperatus@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago

American here, I can't speak for Canada, but I don't think I've ever heard any Americans in the US in real conversations say it differently than it is in Star Trek.

I've lived in nearly every major region of the US, so if there's a place where they still pronounce it like "dah-ta" it must be a very small regional thing. Normal working class people having actual conversions everywhere I've ever been say "day-ta".

I've read before that Patrick Stewart is the reason for that changing, but I don't know if that's true. Seems like an outsized influence for one guy to have on culture, but maybe!

[-] executivechimp@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 10 months ago

Interesting. From some googling it looks like America is a mix of both but leaning towards day-ta, whereas the other countries are more consistently as I said.

I have a British friend who now lives in Canada and works in tech and has changed the way he says it (from day-ta to dah-ta, or really more like dah-da) for convenience. I had thought that it was an Atlantic divide but seems like there's more to it.

[-] tleb@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

I'm a software developer in Canada. I've only ever heard "day ta"

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[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago

Yes, i watched TNG before (and during) i learned English

[-] missandry351@lemmings.world 2 points 10 months ago

Depends on the language I’m speaking, but I usually say da-ta, because data is a Portuguese word for date, and when I switch to English and keep the Portuguese pronunciation (and sometimes I even mix up both words but that’s another story)

[-] Zahille7@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago
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this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
88 points (92.3% liked)

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