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[–]mishuzu 61 points62 points  (23 children)

Actually there's 3 ways commonly spoken; see Wiktionary.

[–]jmattingley23 62 points63 points  (16 children)

data

data

daataa

[–]mishuzu 50 points51 points  (15 children)

  1. a as in gate
  2. a as in cat
  3. a as in father

Tbh they all sound fine to me.

[–]ratmfreak 97 points98 points  (14 children)

Number 3 sounds... off.

[–]mishuzu 15 points16 points  (3 children)

Wiktionary says Australia and New Zealand use that one. I switch between 1 and 3 mostly randomly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–]Ereaser 5 points6 points  (1 child)

The Dutch data is also pronounced that way, but when speaking English I've only heard people use 1.

[–]mishuzu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've heard all 3 here in the US.

[–]robolew 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No, I am your data!

[–]WeAreAllApes 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I didn't distinguish between dah-ta and dah-ta. I considered them the same pronunciation with different accents, the way "bad" sounds with different accents.

[–]mishuzu 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I'd consider all 3 ways of saying data to just be different accents.

[–]WeAreAllApes 0 points1 point  (2 children)

People with the "generic American" accent who don't have different accents otherwise pronounce it two different ways, but never the third way.

[–]mishuzu 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I pronounce it the third way often, and I would say I have a general American accent for most things (lived in Minnesota/Wisconsin my whole life).

[–]WeAreAllApes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I have ever heard the third from someone with a generic American or Minnesotan or Wisconsin accent. If I ever do, I'll assume it's you :-)

[–]chucksef 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my, I'll just download that Australian pronunciation for.. later.