Five pronunciation pitfalls that trip up developers

Why "queue", "cache", and "schema" might be the words holding you back in meetings.

Duc Hoang

Engineering manager · C1 · 6/12/2026 · 3 min read

Pronunciation

The five usual suspects

queue → /kjuː/ (same as "cue")
cache → /kæʃ/ (rhymes with "cash", never "cay-shay")
schema → /ˈskiː.mə/
tuple → /ˈtjuː.pl/ or /ˈtʌp.l/ — pick one and stick with it
idempotent → /ˌaɪ.dəmˈpoʊ.tənt/

Record yourself saying each word three times. Compare with the dictionary clip. Done.

Discussion (3)

Mai Nguyen

Frontend engineer · C1

1d ago

Stealing the standup template. Thanks for sharing the actual sentences — that's what most posts skip.

Duc Hoang

Engineering manager · C1

1d ago

The "all green my side" line is gold. Going to use it tomorrow.

Khoi Tran

DevOps · B2

1d ago

Funny — I wrote a similar Notion-template post last month. Spaced repetition really is the unlock.

Duc Hoang

@ducth

Engineering manager · C1

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Five pronunciation pitfalls that trip up developers

The five usual suspects

Discussion (3)

Duc Hoang

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