# Do people really pronounce URL as "earl" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952 "2010-08-21T05:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/41 "2010-08-22T19:33:12Z")
I say ‘earl.’ I’ve always said ‘earl,’ ever since the internet first came to my attention. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/42 "2010-08-22T20:44:08Z")
jiff is peanut butter gif is an image ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/43 "2010-08-22T21:41:40Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@Manduck](#): > > > > They are the same people who pronounce GIF like jiff. > > I pronounce it giff. Is that wrong? 😛 Ask Elbridge Gerry, VPOTUS under Madison who hashad it bastardized into jerrymander. (alumnus of the Elbridge Gerry Elementary School) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/44 "2010-08-22T21:46:54Z")
I say “earl” and “jiff” and “jay peg”, but I usually say “ess cue ell”. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/45 "2010-08-22T21:55:36Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Uh, that sounds dumb as fuck to me. “mow dumb” sounds DAF to me. It stands for “Modulate/demodulate” and we don’t say “Mowedulate Demowedulate.” =) I say “You Are El.” and when my users stare at me blankly, continue, “Web address.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/46 "2010-08-22T22:14:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, Linux has a short I, because the Linus who created it pronounces his I with a short I. > > . No he doesn’t. His name is pronounced closer to Lee-nus or Lee-Noos. He pronounces Linux with a short i, as Len-ux. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/47 "2010-08-22T22:21:47Z")
FAQ is still pronounced “fack,” right? (Oh dear.) ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/48 "2010-08-22T22:54:27Z")
FAQ is eff ay que GameFAQs is game facks ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/49 "2010-08-22T23:06:32Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > It used to bug me when people said “scuzzy”. (SCSI) Considering that the folks who came up with the protocol wanted it pronounced “sexy”… ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/50 "2010-08-23T08:25:19Z")
And don’t forget _dubdubdub_ (www) Si ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/51 "2010-08-23T08:54:36Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > They are the same people who pronounce GIF like jiff. You mean the way the creators said it was pronounced? :dubious: > **[GIF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Interchange_Format)** > > The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; /ɡɪf/ GHIF or /dʒɪf/ JIF, .mw-parser-output div.crossreference{padding-left:0}see § Pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on June 15, 1987. > The format can contain up to 8 bits per pixel, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space. It can also re... ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/52 "2010-08-23T11:05:22Z")
My brother in law pronounces it wee-fee, **Runs With Scissors**. I’ma punch him in the head! (NB: Might be a cumulative response there) People take the piss out of me for saying “dub dub dub”\* for “double-you double-you double-you”, but it makes sense! Otherwise the abbreviation is _feeking well longer_. - “You’re one of those people who redundantly pronounces websites with the www prefix like it’s 1992, aren’t you. Get off my internet”, you say? Aha! Not so. It comes up a lot in web development, quite legitimately, when you’re discussing DNS and propagation issues and why the hell can’t I see my website yet, you cowboy. Et cetera. Really. Ciggy-bin. That’s one I like. I’m pretty indifferent on url / U.R.L (It would be “url”, with a “urrrr”, round here. “Earl” would be a totally different pronunciation) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/53 "2010-08-23T11:37:49Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > People take the piss out of me for saying “dub dub dub”\* for “double-you double-you double-you”, but it makes sense! Otherwise the abbreviation is _feeking well longer_. Try “Six-U” instead. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/54 "2010-08-23T20:46:02Z")
Out here on the left coast I’ve never heard it pronounced “earl.” But honestly I don’t how often I hear it said, regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/55 "2010-08-23T20:56:47Z")
You are el ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/56 "2010-08-23T21:40:17Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > His name isn’t the same as the Peanuts character, his name is Swedish; the “i” is pronounced something like “ee,” not “eye.” Linus Torvalds is Finnish. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/57 "2010-08-23T22:02:57Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > > [@Manduck](#): > > > > They are the same people who pronounce GIF like jiff. > > You mean the way the creators said it was pronounced? :dubious: > [GIF - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_Interchange_Format#Pronunciation) They probably said “earl” too 😛 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/58 "2010-08-23T23:20:17Z")
> [@teletype](#): > > > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > > > His name isn’t the same as the Peanuts character, his name is Swedish; the “i” is pronounced something like “ee,” not “eye.” > > Linus Torvalds is Finnish. Yes, but his first language and cultural background are Swedish, just like over 5% of the population of Finland and including individuals such as CGE Mannerheim and Jean Sibelius. I don’t know what the Finnish equivalent of “Linus” is, but I’m going to guess it has a couple of extra vowels. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/59 "2010-08-24T04:09:36Z")
I think the pronunciation of Linux was also influenced by Minux or Minix or whatever that earlier flavour of Unix for microcomputers was called. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952/60 "2010-08-24T04:16:47Z")
BTW the wikipedia article on Linux has a sound file of Linus Torvalds pronouncing Linux. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-pronounce-url-as-earl/550952.md?page=4)