How do you say... "k8s"?

You may have seen the abbreviation for "Kubernetes" as k8s online. This is called a Numeronym.

A numeronym is a number-based word. Most commonly, a numeronym is a word where a number is used to form an abbreviation (albeit not an acronym or an initialism). Pronouncing the letters and numbers may sound similar to the full word, as in "K9" (pronounced "kay-nine") for "canine, relating to dogs". Alternatively, letters between the first and last letters of a word may be replaced by a number representing the number of letters omitted, such as in "i18n" for "internationalization".

But how would you SAY k8s if you had to tell it to another person? It's a word we often read or write but rarely say.

I asked over 30 technologists for their pronunciation of this numeronym. The results may surprise you!

Want to see more tech word pronunciations by tech professionals? Find them on Youtube. New videos ship every Friday.

Comments

[Joe Mainwaring]

Kay-Eights

[Dang Ninh]

To be honest, I was clueless at first seeing people abbreviated Kubernetes to k8s until I started seeing more words like i18n or a11y

[Peter Benjamin (they/them)]

Kates or Kubernetes

Some fun ones to try:

• o11y
• a11y
• k3sup
• kubectl - very devisive topic
• Qt
• Qemu

[Pete Cheslock]

Great ones! I've got sysctl coming up on a future episode just so I could get one kinda like kubectl without feeling so divisive. QEMU is a good one as well!