Sometimes I pause before talking to someone about Clojure code. Not because I am unsure of the code, but because I am unsure of how to pronounce the code. The particular code in question is Clojure’s assoc. I have heard it pronounced two ways. One is “assosh”, the other is “assok”. So, to determine it, I decided to conduct a scientific poll of the Clojure community.

I posted the poll on twitter to the Cojure community who follow me. The control group poll was not viewed by those who do not follow me, and/or, are not on twitter.

The results were startling.

assosh – 10

assok – 8

assose – 2

Jeremy – 1

asoaksh – 1

The community is clearly deeply divided on this important question.

After sifting through the raw data, I remembered my statistical analysis and threw out the extremes.

The conclusion was still a stark reality.

We do not as a community know how to pronounce assoc.

Solution

I can only see one way forward. We must address this as a community. I propose that the community documentation of Clojure Docs and Grimoire modify their sites to include audio pronunciation like this.

Remember, I’m pulling for you. We are all in this together.