 <p>I usually pronounce it as "lambda x to y". This is very short and matches how you would type it in TeX: <code>\lambda x \to y</code>. (As a cute note, I have a TeX input mode in my editor, so I could type the above to get <code>λ x → y</code>. :P)</p> <p>That said, I'm sure that everyone would understand you if you said "lambda x dot y"--most people are at least familiar with that notation and the it's very easy to guess what you mean from context.</p> <p>I've never heard anybody say "goes to", however.</p>