nginx (“engine x”) is an HTTP web server, reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer, TCP/UDP proxy server, and mail proxy server. […] [1]

I still pronounce it as “n-jinx” in my head.

References
  1. Title (website): “nginx”. Publisher: NGINX. Accessed: 2025-02-26T23:25Z. URI: https://nginx.org/en/.
    • §“nginx”. ¶1.
  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I laughed out loud when I first learned that imgur is supposed to be pronounced as "imager’… well you fuckin chose the wrong combination of letters for that didn’t ya

    • iconic_admin@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      1000% I say gif too, like gift. If you wanted it pronounced like “jiff” then you should have spelled it with a J.

      • oatscoop@midwest.social
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        5 days ago

        I flew from Jermany to Tanzania and saw some jeriatric jiraffes.

        I say it “Jif” because:

        • That’s what the format’s creator named it.
        • It’s weird, but “soft G” is a thing and acronyms and the only “rule” for pronouncing acronyms is “it’s easy to say”.
        • It annoys people that are way too invested in it. Sure, it’s immature – but it’s low stakes and not particularly “shitty”. I enjoy it and you only YOLO once.
      • tyler@programming.dev
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        5 days ago

        jif was copyrighted. gif was literally named after the peanut butter. it came with a jingle “choosy developers choose gif”. How many different forms of proof do you need.

    • dan@upvote.au
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      6 days ago

      Am I missing something? I’ve always pronounced it “imager”. How else would you pronounce it?

      • pyre@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        as it’s spelled: im gur.

        It’s one thing to name it imgr, but putting a fucking u after the g makes it a hard g in literally every instance. the letter u is the reason the g is pronounced as a hard g in words that otherwise wouldn’t need a u: fragile / guile, digest / guest, etc.

        • tyler@programming.dev
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          5 days ago

          it’s spelled img - ur, as in img or the shortening of image in every context. You can’t shorten image any other way.

          • pyre@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            it’s spelled img - ur

            no, it’s spelled imgur. I know what img stands for which is why I said it would be one thing to call it imgr. the u doesn’t make sense and it hardens the g. it’s funny that you talk about how it’s customary that img stands for image but you act like ‘ur’ is also a thing by itself.

            well it is, just not in that way. if your img-ur breakup made any sense for pronouncing img as if it’s independent then why not consider what ur stands for? it’s a shortening of your or you’re. so why not pronounce it image your? because it’s bullshit and the spelling is ridiculous.

    • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      I mean every time I hear about the damn thing it’s because it’s been misconfigured and is causing some fucking ruckus. The whole thing is cursed so jinx really feels appropriate where I’m standing from.

  • zod000@lemmy.ml
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    7 days ago

    I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way than “engine x”.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      When I first encountered it, it was by hearing it. It took longer than it probably should have to recognize that when people talked about “engine x”, they meant “in-jinks”

      • zod000@lemmy.ml
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        6 days ago

        I heard it spoken first as well, but I ended up seeing it in text form not long after. I think it would have been more confusing if that hadn’t been the era of internet companies thinking they were clever if they dropped a letter (usually a vowel).

    • dan@upvote.au
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      6 days ago

      I started using it around 2006, and even back then it listed the pronunciation on the site.

  • Admetus@sopuli.xyz
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    7 days ago

    As always, first impressions count. There is no way I’m starting to call it engine x now, except for fun.

  • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
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    6 days ago

    I think software name pronunciation discussions are so hilariously absurd that I sometimes purposefully vocalise nginx as “Nuhh Ginks” just to put a hat on it

          • toynbee@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            That is the protagonist from the (IMHO excellent) movie Equilibrium. He describes himself as a “tetragrammaton cleric.” Prior to your comment, I didn’t know the first word had any actual real world meaning, so that’s where my mind went when I saw you use it. (Apologies if this is disrespectful to the intent of the word.)

            As an interesting side note, supposedly that movie is what got Christian Bale cast as Batman.

            • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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              6 days ago

              Sounds cool, will add to the watch list.

              (Apologies if this is disrespectful to the intent of the word.)

              I’m hella atheist, for the record, so no worries. Any actual Jewish practice was a few mothers ago, but mentioning it added both humour and another hint for people who know the concept but not the word.

              • sploosh@lemmy.world
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                6 days ago

                Equilibrium is a really boring movie. Imagine if The Matrix’s fight scenes were centered around a gunfighter whose primary strategy is to stand in one spot and that doing so was a plot point and all the neat plot points of The Matrix were replaced with a plot about not feeling emotions.

                Feel nothing, stand in one spot. Movie done.

      • topherclay@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Ha! There’s probably some other layer of theology there when you consider that that G stands for “Gine” pronounced like “Djinn.”

  • Kelly@programming.dev
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    7 days ago

    My workplace calls it “n-jinx”, we know its nonstandard but its still what is understood by the team.

  • Kissaki@programming.dev
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    7 days ago

    I always pronounced it engine-x (fluent as one word) but never thought of it meaning engine lol

    n gin x -> en gin ex -> “enginex” spoken, nginx thought

  • Opisek@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    My lead dev used to pronounce it njinx and I always needed some time to realize what he’s talking about.