[Nichrome]

(Original post by Nina)
Its NatSki. People tend to use it more to say 'I'm a Natski' than 'I study Natski' though.

I thought it was Nat-Sigh when I first got to Cambridge and they all laughed at me. You quickly fall into the NatSki way of thinking.

I kept saying I studied Nat-Sigh for the first week or so in my first term, everybody kept looking at me funny. I actually really hate a lot of cambridge slang, the next time someone tells me to 'get keen' I think I'm gonna punch them in the face.

[visesh]

(Original post by HCD)
In which case, if I wanted to take the piss, I'd have to adapt: "Are you a phee-zee-sist? A Key-mist? A Bee-oh-logist?"

That just sounds like a bad South African accent.

[FadedJade]

Oh yeah i hate the 'get keen' thing aswell. Cambridge slang is generally rubbish, but people get more confused if you dont use it! Its all part of the bubble.

[Quistis]

We don't have "get keen" over in Oxford - what context is it used in? If anything, "keen" is sometimes used as an insult directed at someone who's working too hard

[that_diesel]

Whoever wrote the recipe for bacon and egg pie when they neg repped me - cheers for that. Dinner sorted.

[Icy_Mikki]

(Original post by hannahpalindrome)
At Oxford it's compsigh. No natsigh or natski here though

Everyone at my interview referred to it as "Comp-Skee". Different colleges maybe?

[Supergrunch]

It's pronounced [nætskiː] (natski).

Problem solved, for Cambridge at least.

(Original post by talespirit)
I'd pronounce it Nat-sci(ence)....natski sounds like some japanese name.

It is in fact a Japanese girls' name, but there's a u in the middle there (Natsuki), albeit a silent one in the Tokyo dialect, what with it being between two unvoiced consonants and all.

[Zhen Lin]

It's not silent, it's devoiced. [natsɯ̥̈kʲi].

[Mayfly]

I think Balliol says comp-sigh....

I think.


Yeah, no, we do.

[thomasjtl]

At Oxford it's compsigh. No natsigh or natski here though

I think Balliol says comp-sigh....

No, it's not. It's always been pronounced compskee as long as i've been here. The only people who i've heard use comp-sigh or CS have been those who are still a bit fresh off the boat.

[Mayfly]

Well, we only have one computer scientist who actually leaves his room, so it's not a term you hear very often...

EDIT: In first year, don't know about the others

[thomasjtl]

okay- i'm thinking of the second years.

[Supergrunch]

(Original post by Zhen Lin)
It's not silent, it's devoiced. [natsɯ̥̈kʲi].

Fair point, devoiced != silent.

[davidt]

Very rarely I hear somebody (normally a supervisor) say 'nat sigh' but that's only ever been referring to the subject in general and there is a distinct gap between the words.

The person is a natskee. I am a Compskee.

[Kitsch]

It's compskee in Ox.

I can understand people not here pronouncing it sigh from science, but it's often abbreviated when it's written down. This means it is said how it is written rather than similar to the unabbreviated form.

[Robob]

Natskee and Compskee, although you'd be quite lucky to actually hear someone say "I'm a compskee". I don't think I've (knowingly) talked to one.

You can always go for 'shatskee' as well.