Why is Netflix calling its signature sound "Tudum"?

Vulture

Netflix has set a Sept. 25 digital global fan event that it is calling "Tudum," based on its signature sound. "But," says Savannah Salazar, "despite the announcement and the plethora of stars Netflix dangled in our face, there was only one thing that boggled our minds: Tudum? That’s what they call that sound? 'Tudum' was not what we imagined Netflix’s signature intro sound to be spelled like. Even the stars in Netflix’s Global Fan Event announcement video struggle with this disorienting news. Jason Bateman pronounces it as 'Ta-dumb,' while Charlize Theron appears to have never even heard of the word before. 'Ta-dun?' Of course, similar debates have raged before when it comes to high-profile TV sounds, including, perhaps most notably, the Law & Order one that people variously spell 'dun-dun,' 'chung-chung,' or even, if you can believe it, “doink-doink.” So is that what we have on our hands here with Netflix? Another national disagreement about how to spell and pronounce a sound that has entered the regular rhythm of our daily lives?" So she asked David J. Peterson, the linguist who created Game of Thrones' Dothraki and other TV show and movie languages. So, why didn’t Netflix decide to go with a hyphen? “Unfortunately you can’t include a hyphen in a hashtag, so I guess they were stuck with a single word," he says.