Ask HN: Does anyone else pronounce CLI as "clee"?

5 points | by codazoda 1 day ago

11 comments

  • ggm 1 day ago
    Initialism.

    I have a theory that the french, and americans share a love of taking acronyms/initialisms and finding a way to "pronounce" them. French company/organisational names appear to be chosen to be "pronouncable initialisms" such as IRCAM or INRIA. Australia has the C-S-I-R-O and you can say SI-Rho and some do. But french and americans definitely do this more. There's an ICANN (pronounced I-Can) body called the RSSAC which is AR-SACK. and SSAC which is SEC-SAC. Some initialisms defeat this. the I-E-T-F and the I-E-S-G and the I-A-B for instance. But I-ana is definitely pronounced as an I-word.

    It's Jif btw.

    Nobody says "sea, but bigger" for C++ and it wasn't called Cplus.

    • 3np 22 hours ago
      In the other direction, in East Asia they go "A-P-P" for app(lication) (:

      I think I've even overheard M-O-D for mod(ification).

      • ggm 21 hours ago
        Chinese shoppers for sheepskin footwear in Australia ask for U-Gee-Gees not "Uggs"
  • al_borland 1 day ago
    Never in my life have I heard it pronounced “clee”.
  • vascocosta 15 hours ago
    I pronounce as CLI as well, at least mentally whenever I read it. I don't often, if ever get the chance to say it out loud, so I wouldn't know. English is not my native language so I guess "cee el eye" would not be how I'd say it.
  • jefurii 1 day ago
    Brevity is for the weak. It is pronounced "command line".
  • treetalker 1 day ago
    Is this what we're posting now on "Ask hnnnnng"? (That's how we pronounce the abbreviation for Hacker News, right?)
  • walpurginacht 16 hours ago
    I pronounce it as cee ell eye but from now on it's clee I guess
  • dakiol 15 hours ago
    As “clee”. But i’m not a native speaker.
  • MongooseStudios 1 day ago
    No, you monster.
  • ThrowawayR2 1 day ago
    If GUI is /ɡo͞oē/, not /gwi/, I would think CLI would be /kəlē/, not /kli/ but, meh, what do I know? I stick with the initialism.
  • sunscream89 1 day ago
    Never.

    Like the new kid renaming the fork the bork, just being cute and all.

    Cut it out.

  • catlover76 1 day ago
    [dead]