4 ms·

Is Nu /ˈnjuː/ (en) /niː/ (cz) a good name? I assume that most people have heard first few letters of Greek alphabet. Yet after Delta they should have switched t

by vletal 5y ago

Is Nu /ˈnjuː/ (en) /niː/ (cz) a good name? I assume that most people have heard first few letters of Greek alphabet. Yet after Delta they should have switched to Pokemon names. Would be much more robust. I can already imagine all the misspelling in Twitter rants.

dane-pgp 5y ago
> they should have switched to Pokemon names The slogan "Gotta catch 'em all!" makes that idea even less viable than it first seems.
- vletal 5y ago
  Maybe colors of PacMan ghosts then?
hkt 5y ago
The Shiny Charizard Variant would get the kids into it. Sibling post is right about the slogan though..
xenonite 5y ago
On the other hand, it may finally give a reason to learn it.
Tade0 5y ago
I wonder if we would eventually reach the Koffing and Weezing variant?
erhk 5y ago
There are many covid variants. Nu is simply the next letter in the alphabet Naming a disease after private intellectual property is a terrible idea. Im not sure what that would accomplish.
- cblconfederate 5y ago
  Sonic hedgehog (the gene) would disagree with you
KMag 5y ago
I think the Greek letter Xi is where we'll hit real trouble. "zai", "k'see", and "she" are all likely ways people will pronounce the letter. I think most Americans have at this point enough exposure to news about China that they'd pronounce it "she", as if it were pinyin. In the fraternity/sorority system, I think most people pronounce it "zai", but my understanding is "k'see" or "ke-see" is closer to classical (and perhaps modern) Greek pronunciation. I had an analogue control systems professor with a very strong accent (his catch phrase was "Quitch dewice wuh you choose?") who pronounced Xi close to correctly. I presume a huge chunk of the class (about half of the men, and many women at MIT were in fraternities/sororities/independent living groups at the time) probably dismissed his pronunciation of the Greek due to his accent in English and their prior exposure to the Greek alphabet in the "Greek" living system.

by vletal 5y ago

dane-pgp 5y ago

> they should have switched to Pokemon names The slogan "Gotta catch 'em all!" makes that idea even less viable than it first seems.

vletal 5y ago
Maybe colors of PacMan ghosts then?

hkt 5y ago

The Shiny Charizard Variant would get the kids into it. Sibling post is right about the slogan though..

xenonite 5y ago

On the other hand, it may finally give a reason to learn it.

Tade0 5y ago

I wonder if we would eventually reach the Koffing and Weezing variant?

erhk 5y ago

There are many covid variants. Nu is simply the next letter in the alphabet Naming a disease after private intellectual property is a terrible idea. Im not sure what that would accomplish.

cblconfederate 5y ago
Sonic hedgehog (the gene) would disagree with you

KMag 5y ago

I think the Greek letter Xi is where we'll hit real trouble. "zai", "k'see", and "she" are all likely ways people will pronounce the letter. I think most Americans have at this point enough exposure to news about China that they'd pronounce it "she", as if it were pinyin. In the fraternity/sorority system, I think most people pronounce it "zai", but my understanding is "k'see" or "ke-see" is closer to classical (and perhaps modern) Greek pronunciation. I had an analogue control systems professor with a very strong accent (his catch phrase was "Quitch dewice wuh you choose?") who pronounced Xi close to correctly. I presume a huge chunk of the class (about half of the men, and many women at MIT were in fraternities/sororities/independent living groups at the time) probably dismissed his pronunciation of the Greek due to his accent in English and their prior exposure to the Greek alphabet in the "Greek" living system.