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A new PNG spec

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616 points bluedel | 2 comments | 24 Jun 25 13:01 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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369548684892826 ◴[25 Jun 25 12:06 UTC] No.44376322[source]▶
A fun fact about PNG, the correct pronunciation is defined in the specification

> PNG is pronounced “ping”

See the end of Section 1 [0]

0: https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png.pdf

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dspillett ◴[25 Jun 25 12:15 UTC] No.44376393[source]▶
Because the creator of gifs telling the world how he pronounced it made such a huge difference :)

Not sure I'll bother to reprogram myself from “png”, “pung”, or “pee-enn-gee”.

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LocalH ◴[25 Jun 25 13:23 UTC] No.44377049[source]▶
I've said "jif" for almost 40 years, and I'm not stopping anytime soon.

Hard-g is wrong, and those who use it are showing they have zero respect for others when they don't have to.

It's the tech equivalent to the shopping cart problem. What do you do when there is no incentive one way or the other? Do you do the right thing, or do you disrespect others?

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pwdisswordfishz ◴[25 Jun 25 14:08 UTC] No.44377533[source]▶
Linguistic prescriptivism is wrong, and people who promote it are showing they have zero respect for others when they don't have to.
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1. xdennis ◴[25 Jun 25 16:01 UTC] No.44378776[source]▶
Linguistic prescriptivism has nothing to do with it.

English has both pronunciations for "gi" based on origin. Giraffe, giant, ginger, etc from Latin; gift, give, (and presumably others) from Germanic roots.

Using the preferred one is just a matter of politeness.

Also, it's quite ironic to prescribe "linguistic prescriptivism" as wrong.

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2. account42 ◴[26 Jun 25 10:31 UTC] No.44385990[source]▶
Insisting on one out of multiple possible pronunciations when most people naturally pick a different one is the definition of linguistic prescriptivism. Politeness doesn't have anything to do with it, people are not required to let individuals dictate how our collective language works.