this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
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[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 35 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Well, what other word do you use to teach a kid the alphabet? Xenophoe? Xenomorph?

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 37 points 2 months ago (1 children)

xenophobe

That way you can teach the concepts of bigotry and tolerance from a young age.

[–] Siethron@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I don't know, a 5 year old might think that's a cool word and say they want to be xenophobe when they grow up.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

See, this way we can spot them earlier. Way too many of them go on to live their dream—when they could have had their course adjusted at the beginning.

[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Ok sure but I grew up in the 90s and ended up becoming a xylophone and Im not sure that's any better.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Xolo - hairless Mexican dog

Xenops - small bird

(I don’t use X-Ray because saying the letter X doesn’t make either of the letter’s major phonetic sounds.)

[–] Assman@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

saying the letter X doesn’t make either of the letter’s major phonetic sounds

Excuse me?

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

X, spoken as a letter = ecks

Hard phonetic sound = zz, same as the letter Z (almost always at the beginning of a word. Xylophone)

Soft phonetic sound = ksk (never at the beginning of a word. Box, oxen)

(disclaimer: American English, ymmv.)

[–] oyfrog@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

By this definition, Xolo wouldn't fit because the x in Xolo is somewhere between sh- and ch-. It's a Nahuatl word and many (if not all) Xs are sh-/ch-.

Sorry for being pedantic.

[–] StrongHorseWeakNeigh@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago (3 children)

And also its Xoloitzcuintle. A bit of a mouth full for a 6 year old. Also, like you said a nahuatl word and not English.

[–] fogstormberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 months ago

xoloitzcuintle is underrepresented though

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[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Don’t be sorry, you’re not pedantic enough.

The Nahuatl word Xoloitzcuintle is something the vast majority of English-speaking Americans can’t read, let alone spell or pronounce correctly. So the more digestible word Xolo was adopted to identify Mexican hairless dogs (hard X, hard O, L, hard O).

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

As an English speaking American I can confirm. I started pronouncing it in my head then kinda gave up cus I haven’t had enough coffee yet

[–] Infynis@midwest.social 3 points 2 months ago

X, spoken as a letter ecks

Or ex

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

No, i think i get it but difficult to explain.

Say X, X, X in a row

Then say

Xylo , Xen, Xono

The Raw letter has different phonet-x to how it’s often applied.

When were talking about teaching kids the alphabet we need to train both individual and applied letters

I do realize that this might be very cultural and language dependent but i am pretty sure we’re talking plain english.

[–] Mirodir@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 2 months ago

When were talking about teaching kids the alphabet we need to train both individual and applied letters

This is only slightly related but I once met a young (USAmerican) adult who thought the stripy horse animal's name was pronounced zed-bra in British English and it was really hard to convince her otherwise. In her mind zebra was strongly connected to Z-bra, so of course if someone was to pronounce the letter "zed" it would turn into "zed-bra" and not just into "zeh-bra".

[–] Rusty@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago

Xanthan gum

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 7 points 2 months ago

X-ray? X, Professor? Xerox?

[–] gnutrino@programming.dev 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Xenon? Xylem? Xenobiology? Xanthoma? Xylocarp? Xiphoid? Xerosis? Xyster? The scrabble favorites xi and xu?

There's loads of cool words that begin with x

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Xylophone: fun, colorful, easy for a kid to remember as a cute little instrument

Xenon: An inert gas used in... MRI scans, I think?

X-ray is probably the only other 'X' word with more real-world representation than xylophone, and as pointed out above, that's not quite representative of how the letter is used phonetically in the rest of the language.

[–] gnutrino@programming.dev 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Xylem is a major component of almost all the plants you see. I'm not sure how much more real-world representation you can get...

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

By "real-world representation", I mean "how often the word is actually used in the real world." There are hundreds of trillions of neutrinos passing through you all the time, but I'd still think "nest" is a better word for kids.

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[–] rovingnothing29@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Xenomorph, gotta teach them young that sometimes it's best to just nuke the whole thing from orbit.

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago
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[–] son_named_bort@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I see someone's a marimba fan.

[–] Bunnylux@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] blackluster117@possumpat.io 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They just have a fuller sound. Marimba master race!

[–] carbonari_sandwich@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

You can't resist a 5 octave rosewood marimba.

[–] Bunnylux@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

I can't afford one either!

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

The word “xylophone” comes from the Ancient Greek ξύλον (xúlon) meaning “wood” and φωνή (phōnḗ) meaning “sound” or “voice.”

So this instrument with metal bars that you hit with a hammer to produce sound is called a…?

That’s right! A “glockenspiel!”

(I stole this from someone else on the internet.)

[–] Ioughttamow@fedia.io 25 points 2 months ago
[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, vibraphones is where it's at!

[–] frunch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Tortoise was the first group i heard using them, led me get into some of vibraphonist Cal Tjader's material and some lesser known vibraphone groups/artists (though Tortoise is much more my speed) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EPqmgY6WTVw

Though she often played marimba, Frank Zappa's percussionist Ruth Underwood was a monster with the mallets as well... Again not vibraphones in this particular example but anyone who digs them may want to see this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Sq0chFjps

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[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (4 children)

As a father of toddlers learning ABCs, I agree. I've seen some weird side steps, like X-ray Fish for an animal themed one, or Xerox--- a company name. Or just straight up Fox because they couldn't think of Xylophone or any other X words.

But, what's the age appropriate alternative?

[–] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

X formerly known as Twitter?

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago
[–] burgersc12@mander.xyz 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You could teach them about the wonderful sport of xarexarebut then you'd have to explain all the basque pelota sports

[–] blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago

Xavier, Charles

[–] Birch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago

Mr X to the Z Xzibit

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

In cartoons and music geared toward toddlers, I agree.

Where's the sick-ass xylophone solos in heavy metal though?

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[–] sirico@feddit.uk 7 points 2 months ago

Someone going to pop a glockenspiel

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Big xylophone is gerrymandering the alphabet.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
[–] rockerface@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago
[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

No it's not enough.

Ita a great sound, it's woody, it's haunting it's under-utilised in rock music.

https://youtu.be/ou7GZDeOp3g?si=eUvuv82oIQvo3I0y

[–] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

Me, rubbing my fingers across the metal bars of the instrument: "This isn't a xylophone, you fool! It's a stinking glockenspiel!"

[–] LoraxEleven@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Possibly overrepresented on a couple Frank Zappa albums..

[–] frunch@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

~~Possibly overrepresented~~ Prominently featured on a couple Frank Zappa albums..

Kidding aside, it's all a matter of taste! Luckily with Zappa there are tons of flavors to choose from 😆

[–] LoraxEleven@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I know that's right. We all fuckin love Ruth!

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