this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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Demon? Damon? Or something more exotic?

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[–] msokiovt@lemmy.today 16 points 11 hours ago

I say at day-mon.

[–] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 13 points 11 hours ago

Same as demon. Because my research indicates that this usage was originally a reference to Maxwell's demon.

https://www.takeourword.com/TOW146/page4.html

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 21 points 13 hours ago
[–] Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 83 points 17 hours ago (4 children)
[–] RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip 29 points 15 hours ago

Daymon. Fighter of the nightmon. Champion of the sun.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 38 points 17 hours ago

What do you want, Picard?

[–] SexualPolytope 16 points 16 hours ago
[–] socsa@piefed.social 2 points 14 hours ago
[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 16 points 13 hours ago

It’s just an old spelling of demon. So that.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 8 points 12 hours ago

both honestly. I think when I see it I think damon mostly but I might say that and I might say demon.

[–] Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club 18 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (2 children)

"Demon"

It was always "demon" (spelled daemon or dæmon), as in a spiritual attendant. Christian mythology has poisoned the word, and anyone who says "daymon" to not offend them is a coward.

See here:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demon

[–] spartanatreyu@programming.dev 11 points 11 hours ago

I say daymon not to avoid offence, but since it sounds cooler than demon.

A demon sounds like a fiend that has only been around for at most a few hundred years, but a daemon sounds like it has been around for a few thousand so it is much more dangerous.

[–] BetterDev@programming.dev 19 points 13 hours ago

Calm your tits (meaning your birds), I say "daymon", and I relish any opportunity to offend the overly devout.

My reason is simple: I learned the word by reading it and sounding it out, and that's more badass than "haha I say demon because I'm edgy"

[–] MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 37 points 17 hours ago (2 children)
[–] wesker 41 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 11 points 17 hours ago

He's a master of command lines and shell scripts for everyone!

[–] Delta_V@lemmy.world 21 points 17 hours ago
[–] teft@piefed.social 19 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Same way that I say Matt Damon.

Matt Daemon

[–] numbermess@fedia.io 14 points 16 hours ago

D ayyyyy mon

[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 19 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

The 'ae' in daemon is the same as the æ in encyclopædia.

[–] entwine@programming.dev 14 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

How do you pronounce encyclopædia?

[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 31 points 17 hours ago (3 children)
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[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 7 points 17 hours ago

Just as it reads. You smash that E into the A's ass. Starting the E before the A finishes.

[–] SilverCode@lemmy.ml 3 points 16 hours ago

Dammit! Now I have to pronounce Encyclopaedia incorrectly 😞

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 2 points 15 hours ago

When I see that spelling I just hear Ted Mosby

[–] smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works 14 points 17 hours ago

Samy way as the actor, Matt.

[–] nomecks@lemmy.wtf 7 points 15 hours ago

Demon, because it offends purists, and FreeBSD's mascot is a demon.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 9 points 16 hours ago
[–] who@feddit.org 5 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈdiː.mən/
  • Rhymes: -iːmən
  • Hyphenation: dae‧mon

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daemon

Rhymes

  • daemon, demon
  • freeman
  • seaman
  • Seaman (surname - see especially David Seaman)
  • semen

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/i%CB%90m%C9%99n

[–] tiny_hedgehog@piefed.social 10 points 17 hours ago

I usually go for J̵̧̢̢̢̡̩͎̙͙̹͇̞̯̯͇̞̭̯̙̻̲͖̻̗̫̙̲̪̫̥̦͇̭͇͍̤̳̫̖̪̗̈ö̸͓̱̭͔͓̼͔́̄̆̑̅͛̈̉̆̓̿̾̓̒̑͂̃̃͑̏̄̈͛̄̈̂̌̑̂̆͛̅͘̚̚͘͝r̶̡̢͉̤͎̲̥̮̻̟͉̩̗̠̝̖̬͈̹͓͈̱̹͖͕̩͎̉̑̋̂̀̍̇͋́̐͆̇͋́m̶̢̢̨̢̨̭̪̹͓̜̱̼̬̘͖̬̝̩̤̘̰̮͕͎͈̭͖͕͎̳͓̺̟͒͑̈́͊̓̾̆͂͂͒̕͘͜͠ͅü̵̢̢̧̢̢̞̹̼̱̲̯̟͕̞̖̞̖̪͙͓̈́̓́̈́̎̓͐̂͆̏̍̍͒̾̀͒̍̎̐̊̀͊̓̋̀̀̋͑͊͑̚͘͝͠͝͝͝ņ̴̡̢̛̛̪̺̻̺͎̪̯͎̪̦͔̱͕̱̫̬̞̦̝̃̽͊̆͌̈́͂̈́̈́̾̋̐͋̋̐͋̏͆̄̄̽͗̒͋̌͒͂͘͜͠͝͝͝͠g̸̛̰̱̣̺͇̒̈́͐̓̿͑́̂̂̔̏̈́͊̔̅̌̈́̍̿͆̄͒͑̀̊͘͘͜͝a̶̦̯̦̹̘̪̞̗̟͇̲̣̳̩̔́́͗̈́͛̀͋͛̌̉̐̾͋́̇̄̍̈́̾̏̿̐̔̔͘̚n̶̡̻͎͔̬̣̲͋̽͒̒̏͋̈́́́d̵̨̧̢̢̡̗̱̼̙͔̤̤̣͓̖̼͍̻̰̭̗̬̟̙̗̿̿̒̎̌̓̆̋̈́͂̊͊̿͊͗̐̿͜r̷̡̦̱̖͖̙̥̫͙̞̲̬̫̼̞̫̖̜̦̰̙̗̯̠̹̗̲̪̯̻̖͇͚̳̿͂͆͒̂̎̇͛͂̈̐͒̄͊͘͠͝ but some purists find that too much so I tone it down to “baddie”.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 9 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

ˈdiː.mən

And don't ever ask random people how to pronounce 'router'.

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

So, what is it? Rooter? Or rauter?

[–] who@feddit.org 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

It's somewhat regional. Lots of Americans pronounce the ou as in ouch, but lots of other folks pronounce it as in root (recognizing that route is its root word).

[–] moody@lemmings.world 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

(recognizing that route is its root word)

You could also ask people how they pronounce route and get different answers.

[–] who@feddit.org 3 points 10 hours ago

Indeed. Which reinforces what I wroot.

[–] KindaABigDyl@programming.dev 3 points 17 hours ago

'ɹaʊ.ɾɚ

[–] CallMeAl@piefed.zip 6 points 16 hours ago (1 children)
[–] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I thought it was a reference to Maxwell's demon.

Daemons in computing, generally processes that run on servers to respond to users, are named for Maxwell's demon.

[–] CallMeAl@piefed.zip 2 points 4 hours ago

Yes the CTSS crew were reportedly thinking of Maxewell's demon but also chose to change it to the "daemon" spelling to make it sound more like a "friendly garden spirit than a monster" and the pronounced it "deemon".

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 4 points 16 hours ago
[–] Olap@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago

Demon, so I can kill them, spawn them, or send them signals to die!

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 2 points 14 hours ago

"DAH-ay-mon," I choose you! Use your exec ~/thunder_sma.sh!

[–] Durandal@lemmy.today 4 points 17 hours ago
[–] SigHunter@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 16 hours ago
[–] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 3 points 17 hours ago

I would pronounce it "DEEmon" but that gets some religious folks all freaked out, so I usually go with "DAYman".

[–] I_Am_Jacks_____@sh.itjust.works 3 points 17 hours ago
[–] dsilverz@calckey.world 2 points 17 hours ago

@guynamedzero@piefed.zeromedia.vip @linux@programming.dev

"Why thou summoneth me?" Lol
Just kidding!

I'm Brazilian, so I pronounce Daemon in such a Brazilian (specifically the southeast, "paulista"/from state of São Paulo variation) accent:

Daah-eh-monn

Or, if my IPA literacy is correct:

/dajˈmõ/

The Daemon I use in my pseudonym is inspired both by the Unix daemons (because I'm a DevOps and also a Linux daily user), as well by the esoteric daemons (as in the original Greek definition of daimon, spirits, due to my belief system).

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