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
- Title (website): “nginx”. Publisher: NGINX. Accessed: 2025-02-26T23:25Z. URI: https://nginx.org/en/.
- §“nginx”. ¶1.
There’s a linux file called fstab which is often pronounced f-s-tab because it’s a table of file systems. It was somewhat surprising to hear Dave Plummer pronounce it as “f-stab”, as in stabbing someone…
N-jinks is silly, f-stab is cool.
“F-stab” is just more fun to say.
f-s-tab is feeble. Unsatisfactory. Bureaucratic.
f-stab is jocose. Nonchalant. Sharp.
Is that pronounced as gokoze?
F-s-tab is boba
F-stab is kiki
With the issues i had in the past with fstab, the desire to stab someone was certainly provoked.
I guess some people might go with f-s-tayb, but I wouldn’t necessary recognise what they were saying.
Insert dank Winnie the Pooh meme here for F-STAB
Whereas fsck, short for “file system check”, should be pronounced “fisk” when someone in a suit is around, otherwise it’s “fuck”.
f*ck. You can even occasionally get away with spelling it like this
it kinda ends up as “fsuck” for me, which is apt-get when it doesn’t magically fix all my filesystem issues
It’s ef sock in my head
That’s… Unfortunate.
It’ll forever be F-stab in my head
I was a non violent youth when I first saw an fstab, perhaps that got me thinking “F S tab”
I’ve been pronouncing it N-gin-X, which is probably close enough once slurred together
I always called it “in-gen-ix”, which doesn’t even make sense now that I think about it.
Unless you’re from New Zealand
Uhn-jun-uhks in NZ TYVM.
Who cares? Pronounce it whichever way you want as long as it’s clear/understandable. It would take longer for me to understand what piece of software engine-x is, but it takes a second at most.
“Nugginx” is how I have always read it
As a scandi Iv’e been leaning more into ‘enginks’ - close to ‘engangs’ and french kinks.
I’m not sure what the English pronunciation of “n-jinx” sounds like but I’m pronouncing it “engines” as in plural of engine.
Um das mal phonetisch zu schreiben: Es würd sich ungefähr wie “en dschinks” auf Deutsch anhören.
en-dschiniks
- “n-jinx” wäre “en dschinks”
- “engine x” wäre “endschin iks”
Getting into documentation is dangerous territory… Try not to make a habit of it!
I really dislike the trend of made up pronunciations. I can accept that gnome is with an audible g since that makes more sense than a silent g, but nginx can be at best similar to engine-x, but even then it’s more like the n in dnd rather than en.
If there were a dash I would accept engine, ie n-gin-x.
But it’s spelled enjinx
If you want people to pronounce your project name correctly you should spell it that way. Having a FAQ on pronunciation means you’ve messed up and lost already. Want it to be called “Engine X”? Call it “Engine X”.
My favourite is SAP not wanting people to call it Sap but to spell it out S.A.P. Well sorry, but it’s a CVC word, literally the first kind of word everyone learns.
even a dash, ngin-x, would do it really
And is even worse sign if you need a document to describe how to pronounce its name. It is a sign you should pick another name.
Do our USAian overlords now require us to submit names to ensure those won’t be mispronounced on purpose? You people are insufferable.
Who do you think I am?
I always heard it as /ŋiŋks/ in my mind
Ok so I know what ŋ sounds like but I bet there are some idiots here who don’t, so maybe explain it.
For them
On https://www.ipachart.com/ you can click on every symbol to hear it.
In relation to English, it’s the “ng” sound in the common “-ing” ending or suffix.
Wikipedia has an entire article on it (of course): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal
For some reason if you put that sound at the beginning of a word most English speakers can’t say it.
I used to pronounce the name Nguyen as “ngoo-yen” until somebody told me it’s pronounced “win”, and i was like “What?”
Do you mean /ɲiɲks/?
Here are the sounds for each:
Referencs
- Type: Article. Title: “Voiced palatal nasal”. Publisher: Wikipedia. Published: 2025-02-20T17:37Z. Accessed: 2025-02-28T06:58Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_palatal_nasal.
- The audio file is found by clicking “source” for the audio in the infobox.
- Type Article. Title: “Voiced velar nasal”. Publisher: Wikipedia. Published: 2025-02-09T14:27Z. Accessed: 2025-02-28T06:59Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal.
- The audio file is found by clicking “source” for the audio in the infobox.
Nope.
Thank you for verifying 🙂
- Type: Article. Title: “Voiced palatal nasal”. Publisher: Wikipedia. Published: 2025-02-20T17:37Z. Accessed: 2025-02-28T06:58Z. URI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_palatal_nasal.
you mean its not En Gee Nix?
The correct way is njinx because enginex is a dumb spelling and is too much like twitter
Can you believe that fucking dipshit ruined the letter X for all of us 😤
It’s short enough I just spell it out
I’m glad there’s pronunciations provided, because to me it looks like it should sound like a slur.
TIL some people pronounced it n-jinx
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.
