4 ms·

> I didn’t have any money when I started the company to purchase a domain name so I built an algorithm that iterated phonetic domain names and printed out a lis

by Danylon 10y ago

> I didn’t have any money when I started the company to purchase a domain name so I built an algorithm that iterated phonetic domain names and printed out a list of what was available. My wife and I went through the list and “Kaggle” was the one we picked. It’s algorithmically generated. > It’s a terrible name because most Americans pronounce it “kagel” [rhymes with “bagel”] which sounds like the pelvic floor exercises. Australians pronounce it “kaggel” [rhymes with “haggle”]. -- Anthony Goldbloom, http://www.intelfreepress.com/news/a-marketplace-for-data-scientists/5256/ http://www.intelfreepress.com/news/a-marketplace-for-data-sc...

jacques_chester 10y ago
As an Australian living in the US, it never occurred to me that it would be called anything but the latter.
- cr0sh 10y ago
  As a self-described redneck in Arizona - the latter seems most appropriate. Why anyone would pronounce it to rhyme with "bagel" makes no sense to me (same as pronouncing "gif" with a soft "G"); IIRC (and I am no linguist), in english there's a rule about how something is pronounced based on surrounding letters - and I think that double consonant vs singular consonant preceded by a vowel is one of those rules. I'm sure there are exceptions, after all (it's english...) - but I have a feeling that if you looked at such words you would find the general pattern to fit. Again - I am willing to admit that I really don't know what I am talking about; I'm not a linguist, I'm not an expert in english. I'm just some guy who last studied english in high school years ago...
  - ScottBurson 10y ago
    I feel the same way about "GIF". Alas, the inventor of the GIF format insists on the soft "G" [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#Pronunciation_of_GIF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#Pronunciation_of_GIF
- alxvio 10y ago
  haggle gaggle straggle There's really no excuse for any English speaker to interpret kaggle as kagle or kagel.
- rifung 10y ago
  As an American living in the US, I feel the same
thaumasiotes 10y ago
> It’s a terrible name because most Americans pronounce it “kagel” [rhymes with “bagel”] which sounds like the pelvic floor exercises. Australians pronounce it “kaggel” [rhymes with “haggle”]. Speaking as an American, this is an awful example. Why are "bagel" and "haggle" not supposed to rhyme with each other? What difference is there in Anthony Goldbloom's mind?
- Danylon 10y ago
  Bagel = Kay-gel Haggle = Kah-gl I wonder about your dialect, if for you, "bagel" rhymes with "gaggle".
  - thaumasiotes 10y ago
    I'll accept bagel basically anywhere along the continuum you're trying to describe. (Well, assuming you think the vowel in the first syllable of "haggle" is like "bag" and not like "bog".) California English.
ScottBurson 10y ago
Ah, interesting. I was thinking there must have been a German immigrant to the US whose name, Kegel, was anglicized as Kaggle (the officials at Ellis Island have not always been known for their deep knowledge of English orthography). But I could find no evidence of such a person. -- Also, I see by following your link that the company was founded in Australia, so the pronunciation that rhymes with "haggle" is actually the original one! Cool! I'll use it.

by Danylon 10y ago

jacques_chester 10y ago

As an Australian living in the US, it never occurred to me that it would be called anything but the latter.

cr0sh 10y ago
As a self-described redneck in Arizona - the latter seems most appropriate. Why anyone would pronounce it to rhyme with "bagel" makes no sense to me (same as pronouncing "gif" with a soft "G"); IIRC (and I am no linguist), in english there's a rule about how something is pronounced based on surrounding letters - and I think that double consonant vs singular consonant preceded by a vowel is one of those rules. I'm sure there are exceptions, after all (it's english...) - but I have a feeling that if you looked at such words you would find the general pattern to fit. Again - I am willing to admit that I really don't know what I am talking about; I'm not a linguist, I'm not an expert in english. I'm just some guy who last studied english in high school years ago...
- ScottBurson 10y ago
  I feel the same way about "GIF". Alas, the inventor of the GIF format insists on the soft "G" [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#Pronunciation_of_GIF https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIF#Pronunciation_of_GIF
alxvio 10y ago
haggle gaggle straggle There's really no excuse for any English speaker to interpret kaggle as kagle or kagel.
rifung 10y ago
As an American living in the US, I feel the same

thaumasiotes 10y ago

> It’s a terrible name because most Americans pronounce it “kagel” [rhymes with “bagel”] which sounds like the pelvic floor exercises. Australians pronounce it “kaggel” [rhymes with “haggle”]. Speaking as an American, this is an awful example. Why are "bagel" and "haggle" not supposed to rhyme with each other? What difference is there in Anthony Goldbloom's mind?

Danylon 10y ago
Bagel = Kay-gel Haggle = Kah-gl I wonder about your dialect, if for you, "bagel" rhymes with "gaggle".
- thaumasiotes 10y ago
  I'll accept bagel basically anywhere along the continuum you're trying to describe. (Well, assuming you think the vowel in the first syllable of "haggle" is like "bag" and not like "bog".) California English.

ScottBurson 10y ago

Ah, interesting. I was thinking there must have been a German immigrant to the US whose name, Kegel, was anglicized as Kaggle (the officials at Ellis Island have not always been known for their deep knowledge of English orthography). But I could find no evidence of such a person. -- Also, I see by following your link that the company was founded in Australia, so the pronunciation that rhymes with "haggle" is actually the original one! Cool! I'll use it.