[darksaints]

Speaking of GNU social, I have always thought that GNU was quite possibly the worst name to use for the project, simply because nobody knows how to pronounce it, and maybe if you do know how to pronounce it, someone else might pronounce it completely differently, so it you end up pronouncing it in two (or more!) ways until the person you're talking to knows what you're talking about. Is it 'new'? Or 'nyew'? I've also heard 'geh-new' and 'G-new'. 'new' is probably the easiest to say and is technically correct, but it is also an extremely ubiquitous adjective which can be placed next to literally any noun, and therefore a terrible way to brand something.

And I think that is the primary reason why GNU/Linux never caught on and everybody just called it Linux. "What OS do you use?" "GNU/Linux" "Wait, I didn't know there was a New Linux!".

[chrismorgan]

On the topic of unclear pronunciations, “new” is a poor choice for description of pronunciation, because accents are split on whether to pronounce that /njuː/ (“nyew”, which I think I’ve heard called “liquid u”, though I’m not sure how that gets spelled) or /nu/ (“noo”). Broadly speaking, the general American and Canadian accents omit the /j/, and the rest of the world includes it. But a particularly fun fact is that certain singing styles can alter adopted accent also: the classical singing style uses the /j/, so that even Americans who would say “noo” will sign “nyew” when operating in the classical/opera style.

[qpiox]

Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU Click on the listen link in the first paragraph and you'll understand how to pronounce it.

[rakoo]

Pronunciation issues have never stopped us from posting GIFs even though too many people still mispronounce it

[rishav_sharan]

New? I have always pronounced it as Ginu. -_-

[aldanor]

Gnoo

[blisterpeanuts]

I always say: guh-NOO

Rhymes with kazoo.

[hyperpallium2]

or expand it.