Folks, it’s pronounced “wee blog” not “web log”. First, just think about it. If the word was pronounced “web log” then why would it ever be shortened to “blog”. Second, and probably more importantly, ask the guy who came up with the concept.
“Suddenly a community sprang up. It was easy to read all of the weblogs on Cameron’s list, and most interested people did. Peter Merholz announced in early 1999 that he was going to pronounce it “wee-blog” and inevitably this was shortened to “blog” with the weblog editor referred to as a “blogger.”
— “Weblogs: A History and Perspective” by Rebecca Blood, September 7, 2000 as published in we’ve got blog Perseus Publishing, 2002.
Even better, I found a blog entry from Mr. Merholz that backs this up!
As such, it’s weird to experience how my love of words and wordplay has actually made an impact. Sometime in April or May of 1999 (I can’t say for sure when I exactly did it), I posted, in the sidebar of my homepage:
“For What It’s Worth
I’ve decided to pronounce the word “weblog” as wee’- blog. Or “blog” for short.”I didn’t think much of it. I was just being silly, shifting the syllabic break one letter to the left. I started using the word in my posts, and some folks, when emailing me, would use it, too. I enjoyed it’s crudeness, it’s dissonance…
I realize that I might be fighting a loosing battle here but it’s just like Greg Schwartz ranting about when people use the term podcast to describe plain ol’ downloadable audio content. (In fact, hearing “web log” over and over in the ALA Library 2.0 podcast that Greg was complaining that led me to write this post.)
Additionally, and least importantly, pronouncing it correctly is what makes the title of my blogging workshop funny. (“I blog, you blog, weblog!”) Usually one person in the room gets it without explanation. Everyone else gets it about 10 minutes into the class, once I’ve explained it.
If you’re going to critique the way that “weblog” is pronounced, maybe you should avoid the typos in your first few lines.
Just testing… You passed. 😉
If the word was pronounced “web log” then why would it ever be shortened to “blog”
It may be an attempt by some of the cognoscenti (e.g. me) to explain to the technically unwilling (e.g. my Dad) what a blog and a blogger is, since the accepted/official origin is just too circular and doesn’t cut any ice with such people. Viz
Q. What is a blog?
A. It’s something that wee blog!
The Web (space) log-equals-Log-equals-Diary angle at least makes the process more approachable for those who don’t or won’t ever do it.
Rob, you’ve got a point but I question the need to change the “offical” just to make something easier to explain. It’s just like how “GIF” is pronounced. It’s pronounced witf a soft g (i.e. “jif”) not a hard g (as in gift) and there’s documented evidence that the soft g is the correct pronunciation. Isn’t mispronouncing something because “that’s what everyone else does” a disservice to the person you’re teaching.
Besides, whenever I hear “web log” I think of those files that Web servers generate.
I have to disagree. I have never in my life heard “wee blog” and honestly it just sounds silly. Even IF blogs were ever called “wee blogs” by more than the first couple of computer nerds on the blog scene the “web log” boat has long since sailed and for the better. In addition, I see no reason why “web log” couldn’t be shortened to “blog.” The “blog” sound is intact with either pronunciation. Might I suggest you get on the Pronunciation 2.0 bandwagon with the rest of us 21st century libraians? (Otherwise I always think your blog is great! Keep up the good work!)
While the story of this “official” origin (and thus pronounciation) is appealing, the etymology is ahistorical. As Rob indicates, blogging was born of weblogging. The Wikipedia is correct on this. Many of us who followed weblogs back then can remember when the now more popular terminology “blogs” and “blogging” first hit the streets. Jorn Barger, in 1997, may or may not have been the first to call his a WebLog, I don’t recall, but for early adopters it was clearly a concatenation of “web log.” By that time and the creation of the first version of RSS, “Web logs” and online diaries had been appearing on the web by pioneers such as Dave Winer for many years. Alas, not sexy, but true.
I’m sorry to say that this is an absolutely absurd nit to pick.
Michael, there are much better uses of your time as a blogger and mine as a reader.