On the quest to eliminate dinner party oopsies

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I hate mispronouncing things in company, but sometimes I need to use a word or name that I’ve only read (and so kind of guessed the pronunciation for my mind’s reading voice (you know the one, the one reading this to you). recently I heard someone asked a questioned about vegetarianism, and he replied with something about “vejins”. the person he was talking to was polite enough to just say “yes, vejins” without disrupting the conversation, but I felt embarrassed for him (the word was vegan, of course). I don’t want people to feel embarrassed for me. do you want people to feel embarrassed for you? no! so let’s work this out. words I would like to know how to pronounce properly:

Fibonacci
Feynman ( :eek: )
t ’ Hooft
Gell-man
tau

help and/or add your own mysteries of pronunciation!
(This is the second time I’ve typed out the first. it now feels doubly embarrassing to admit all this)

(no prize for guessing who’s been reading physics of late)

2

arghhh I meant “typed out the post” not the first. ergh why can’t I edit

3

Hello? was this too mundane? not mundane enough? :smack: :confused:

4

Fibonacci: fee-ba-NAH-chee
Feynman: FINE-mun
Gell-Mann: hard G Gell, Mann: a as in father, both stressed
Tau: rhymes with cow (or alternately with paw, but everyone I’ve ever heard pronounces it in the first way)
t’Hooft? Never heard of that one

5

Several people relied to your other thread on the same subject.