TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Pronouncing "gigabyte"; TAKE A STAND! From:Vicki Rosenzweig <murphy!acmcr!vr -at- UUNET -dot- UU -dot- NET> Date:Wed, 2 Feb 1994 14:18:19 EST
Don,
If it's a matter of "rational argument and etymology," your
four years of Latin are irrelevant, since "giga-" is from
the Greek. If you want to defend the pronunciation "jiggabyte,"
you'll need to do so on some other grounds. It sounds to me
as though what has happened is that, sometime in the last
fifty years, the pronunciation has changed, whether by chance,
the influence of etymology (unlikely: classical Greek is not
widely taught these days) or the desire to shorten it to
"gig" rather than "jig," and your dictionaries record an older
pronunciation. By the way, do you really find a collection of
dictionaries all of which date to before 1950 adequate for
technical writing that I presume, since you brought up "gigabyte,"
includes computing?
Vicki Rosenzweig
vr%acmcr -dot- uucp -at- murphy -dot- com
New York, NY
