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I heard someone pronounce UI as yooey. I guess this comes from the pronunciation of GUI, which is gooey. How common is this compared to yoo-eye and user-interface?

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As a UI engineer, I can't remember ever having heard UI pronounced yewey, only yew-eye. – Robusto Jan 8 '12 at 14:38

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up vote 10 down vote

I've heard "user interface" used quite a lot, but never "yooey" - I'd say the latter was nonstandard.

Personally I'd pronounce it "yoo eye" in technical circles, and "user interface" in less technical circles.

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up vote 7 down vote

UI is pronounced as "you I"

I work in IT industry and have never came across a different pronunciation.

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And how about pronouncing GUI? – GEdgar Jan 8 '12 at 12:38
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That is pronounced as gooey mostly, but sometime also as G U I – Incognito Jan 8 '12 at 12:51
up vote 1 down vote

Youey is informal, and is acceptable for relaxed chat or friends[1]. But for a technical audience you should probably stick to expanding to User Interface for the first use and 'You Eye'[2] afterwards.

This helps people who are not technical (who may not have come across the term before) and also people who don't speak English as a first language, where the initials U and I may have very different pronunciation. ('Uh ee'?)

[1] I do this all the time, and my friends find it endearing, or annoying, I'm never sure which. I also say 'wee-fee" for WIFI. [2] Sorry for not using ASCII IPA.

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