I could be way off on this, but I keep hearing “the Fediverse” in my head as “The Verse” in the voice of Nathan Fillion.
Something about “fediverse” just sounds weird. Like if I used it in real life, I’d feel like I’ve made a grave mistake opening my mouth and letting that come out. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of some children’s toy, like Marvelverse, Legoverse, etc?
I usually try to say, Lemmy, or just federated communities.
I like the idea of reading the disclaimer, while there are many universes like Marvelverse or Legoverse, if you hear someone talking about The Verse, they mean within the Fediverse.
It’s like how there are many philosophers, but The Philosopher is Aristotle.
Or THE Ohio State University.
A lot of people in my circle just refer to the fediverse as “fedi”