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0 pointsjcbrand7y ago0 comments

Ubuntu's pronunciation isn't exactly clear to English speakers either.

People needed to be told that it's Ooboontoo and not You-ban-too (or whatever else people came up with).

0 comments

Fascinating!

As a non-native English speaker, yet one who's been in North America and dreaming in English for 2+ decades, Ooboontoo was the one and only pronunciation that came to my mind (I suppose because it's a fairly phonetic interpretation).

To me, "You-Ban-Too" is a completely "you have to squint and tilt your head and really want to see it" pronunciation/interpretation :->

scarejunba7y ago

It's partly because of the flattening of certain vowels that happens in Am English. Like how con is similar to Kahn in Am English, bun has a little ah to its uh. Hence u (you) bun (bahn) tu (Too).

freehunter7y ago

Right, fortunately Ubuntu has enough marketing behind it that most people who know Linux already know how to pronounce it. SUSE's marketing is more limited in that regard.

In 2006, Ubuntu was a ridiculous name. Then Canonical's marketing kicked in.

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