How do you pronounce Logos?
LAH-GAHS or LOW-GOESS?
As I was getting ready to film my review of Logos Bible Software, I started wondering how I was supposed to pronounce Logos. I did a quick search and found two blog posts by Mark Ward.
In his first post, he says it's pronounced Lah-gahs. His first reason is that most evangelical Christian pastors, Bible teachers, and students (the people who buy Logos products) know at least a few Greek words—words which, effectively, have become English words (among Christians, anyway). He explains that Christians know logos means “word,” and this is clearly what Logos Bible Software is getting at: putting you in contact with the words of Scripture. In his experience (though admittedly not universal), Christians pronounce the word with two short O’s: LAH-GAHS.
In his second post, he gives a major update after having worked four years at Logos Bible Software (now called Faithlife). He says there’s no standard pronunciation of Logos at the company—the same person might even change pronunciations in the course of a sentence.
He now suggests that people should say whatever best suits their purpose and meets the needs of their audience. If you’re speaking to people who know Greek—especially those who learned it in a seminary using a system where omicron is a short “o” (like in the word not)—then say LAH-GAHS.
But for people who don’t know Greek at all, or who haven’t been exposed to the churchified, anglicized use of the word logos, they won’t know how to spell Logos unless you use two long O’s. So, he’s picked up the habit of saying LOW-GOESS, at least when it’s helpful.
So, you can pronounce it both ways.
I’m thankful for Mark Ward, his work at Logos, and the rest of the Faithlife team for their ministry!
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