how do you pronounce 'tuple'?

Carl Cerecke cdc at maxnet.co.nz
Mon Feb 13 21:42:47 EST 2006


Erik Max Francis wrote:
> Terry Hancock wrote:
> 
>> I doubt that helps much: I pronounce all of those words
>> (when I use them, which is not too often) as "-toopel". The
>> only tuple I pronounce with the "-uh-" is "couple", and I
>> usually call that a "two-tuple" when dealing with Python.
> 
> 
> I prefer the name _pair_ :-).
> 
>> I suspect that even those who would pronounce 'quintuple'
>> "kwintuhpel" would say 'quintuplicate' as "kwinTOOPlikuht".
>> (that's the noun, not the verb, which is "kwintoopliKATE").
> 
> 
> Yeah.  The short form is that both are right and which one is more 
> common is probably regional more than anything.  I've heard people say 
> _toople_ vs. _tuhple_, but I've never heard anyone say _quintoople_ vs. 
> _quintuhple_ (granted, not that the situation arises all that often).
> 
> But come to think of it, it kind of does.  I've heard _quintuhplet_ and 
> _sextuhplet_ and the like plenty of times, and I've never heard it 
> pronounced the other way (in General American).  m-w.com shows something 
> interesting here -- the first listed pronunciation for _quintuple_ is oo 
> with uh being an alternate, but the first listed pronunciation for 
> _quintuplet_ is uh with oo being an alternate.  Which probably goes to 
> emphasize that that it's just whatever you're used to and there's no 
> rhyme or reason to any of it.
> 
>> So what's a 1-element tuple, anyway? A "mople"?  "monople"?
>> It does seem like this lopsided pythonic creature (1,) ought
>> to have a name to reflect its ugly, newbie-unfriendly
>> nature.

> Of course that's still a completely valid construct in Python so the 
> question stands.  If a 4-tuple is a quadruple, a 3-tuple is a triple, a 
> 2-tuple is an pair, then I guess a 1-tuple would be a single.  Granted 
> that's not nearly as gruesome enough a name to go with the special 
> lopsided Pythonic creature mentioned above.  I suggest we name it a 
> hurgledink.
> 

So, ahhh, what about zero-tuples? zuple? uple? Surely it would be better 
for 2,1, and 0-tuples to be called 2,1, and 0-tuples.

And, BTW, in New Zealand, I've only ever heard the pronunciation 
'tupple'. toople sounds kind-of stoopid.

Cheers,
Carl.



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