Hover Text:

The universe started in 1970. Anyone claiming to be over 38 is lying about their age.

Transcript

[Cueball sits at a computer, staring at the screen and rubbing his chin in thought. A friend stands behind him.]
Cueball: Weird — My code’s crashing when given pre-1970 dates.
Friend [pointing at Cueball and his computer]: Epoch fail!

  • Arghblarg
    9•11 months ago

    Is it just (Canuckian) me, or shouldn’t it be pronounced EpOch (long ‘e’, long ‘o’) to avoid ambiguity? It still breaks my brain when US people say what I hear as ‘epic’.

    • @BleatingZombie
      8•11 months ago

      If it matters, I’m american and I only ever hear it the way you say it. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone pronounce it like “epic” 🤔

      • Arghblarg
        2•11 months ago

        I searched some more, and I had to stop since it just made me more frustrated :)

        Listen to this clip (find the Podcast link halfway down the page with a short audio clip):

        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epoch

        The narrator even prefaces the discussion by saying “… EEE PEE OOOH CEEE EAYCHH”. Guh!! :P

    • Deebster
      5•11 months ago

      Yeah, as a Brit I pronounce it ɪ́j p ɔ k (ee as in fleece, o like in goal), so this joke took me a bit to figure out.

      I didn’t even realise those US mavericks would say it like epic. Unless I’d heard it and didn’t recognise it - lately I’ve been hearing a few people mention the “Adam” editor and it took me several different people before I realised they were saying “Atom”.

      • Arghblarg
        3•11 months ago

        Thank you, sets my mind at ease to know it is not just me :)

        “Atom” vs. “Adam” – yes now that you mention it, you’re not hearing things, Americans do say it differently.

        This reminds me of something that constantly bothers me about youtube tutorials: I can tell instantly the presenter is American or was raised in America when they say “… now go ahead and …” rather than “now, …” or “next, …” when presenting step-by-step procedures. I don’t know why, but it really bothers me, yet there is nothing ‘wrong’ about it.

        • DeebsterEnglish
          1•11 months ago

          Haha, constantly hearing “go ahead” is absolutely my #1 bugbear - I get so irritated and distracted when people keep repeating it that I have to rewind to actually listen to the other words. I’ve noticed some Brits have started using it to, much to my dismay.

          I was using gpg earlier and it told me “Go ahead and type your message”.