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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

I do

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[-] SonicBlue03@sh.itjust.works 44 points 1 year ago

I pronounce it data. Guess I thought everyone did.

[-] AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago
[-] ettyblatant@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year 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 it's honestly tiresome, problematic, and outdated.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 1 year ago

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

[-] Etterra@discuss.online 43 points 1 year ago
[-] deranger@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 year ago

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

[-] deadcatbounce@reddthat.com 14 points 1 year ago
[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Exactly what I was gonna say.

[-] criitz@reddthat.com 14 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Corno@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year ago

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

[-] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago

One is his name, the other is not

[-] jsomae@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

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

[-] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 year ago

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

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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 1 year 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".

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

[-] pwnicholson@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

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

[-] AuroraGlamour@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago
[-] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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 1 year ago

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

[-] bobbyfiend@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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 1 year ago

I use them interchangeably 🙈

[-] buffysummers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

It is pronounced /ˈdætə/.

[-] meekah@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive.

[-] communism@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

How else are you supposed to pronounce it?

[-] gobble_ghoul@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year 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/.

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

[-] lukecooperatus@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year 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!

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 1 year ago

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

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[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

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

[-] missandry351@lemmings.world 2 points 1 year 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 1 year ago
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this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
88 points (92.3% liked)

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