pronunciation of OSX

Question

pronunciation of OSX

Hi all, on a lighter note - as I'm the only Mac user I know, I only ever see OSX referred to in print or on screen, not spoken. I've been pronouncing it Oh - ess - eks , not oh - ess - ten , for the same reason that I don't pronounce unix as uni - ten or linux as linu - ten. Although I have previously used OS's called MacOS 8 & 9, I thought the X was because of the *nix underpinnings. However watching a recording of a keynote recently I heard Steve Jobs pronounce it oh - ess - ten - I guess he should know. What is the opinion? Would people fall about laughing if I ever called it oh - ess - ten in a Mac gathering?

17" iMac flat panel, 12" iBook, 24" iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6), (OSX Tiger on FP)

Posted on Oct 21, 2010 12:52 AM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 8

35,962 points

Oct 21, 2010 1:37 AM in response to Terence Norman

Perhaps some stutter when they read:
"OS X 10.5.8" - or - " OS X 10.6.4" etc.

Since it is an X (or historical Rome, it's Ten)
could be Ten even when away from Rome.

So, if Apple says X=Ten, it may also mean
X= "x" and for those in love with it, that's
probably spelled out thus: "xxx!"

Hmmm. At least I don't have to worry about
offending my immediate neighbors, since
they don't use keyboards. Most are birds,
some squirrels, & other wildland characters.

{And I have a fair idea on what they'd do if I
sat a non-Mac PC in the woods for their use.
...But I do think that would be animal cruelty.}

Yet I have been known to cite incorrect examples.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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