> makes me wonder if non-native English speakers have similar hang ups with other popular apps/companies
As a non-native English speaker, I can confirm that you are right. This happens all the time. I used to pronounce "Cache" as "kay-sh" for a decade or so (sometimes I still do)
Re:Forgejo forks its own path forward
by miki123211 on Friday February 16, 2024 @10:17AM
(#39398155)
WhatsApp is notoriously bad at this, the pronunciation is not very obvious if you don't speak English. I've definitely heard non-English speakers pronouncing it with more of an a sound, like in farm.
I think the mispronunciation may stem from the intended pun/wordplay: What's up? -> WhatsApp
side note, but why is the audio example an mp4 of all things? there's no video so surely mp3 or something similar would be better fitting
That's hilarious, I didn't even realize it was a clickable link! Well, file formats aside, props to the team for including an audio recording of how to pronounce it.
Re:Forgejo forks its own path forward
by paradox460 on Friday February 16, 2024 @06:02PM
(#39404197)
MP4 is just a container, and the audio is likely something that can go in said container, like AAC. As to the why, probably better compression
But the product name isn't English, it's Esperanto. Most native English speakers won't have a clue how to pronounce it correctly, since /j/ in English is always produced like the "dg" in "edge", while in many European languages (including Esperanto) /j/ sounds like "y".
I only know how to pronounce it because I speak Esperanto. forĝejo is pronounced "forge" like the English word) + "ayo" (like the "ai" in "aim", plus the "yo" in "yo what's up".)
Having a name from a made up language isn't a good sign, I would even prefer a Chinese name even if was difficult to pronounce but easy to type.
Look at Ubuntu for a foreign name that is easy to spell. Forgejo reads like a typo.
Even sr.ht managed to get a better name
[1] https://forgejo.org/2022-12-15-hello-forgejo/