pronouncing abbreviations (poll)

[cellio]

The discussion in my previous entry has made me curious, so... poll time!

[Poll #727470]

Comments

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time, I helped name a conference: the Workshop on the Application of Engineering Principles to Secure Software Development (WAEPSSD). Yes, this was pronounced Way-Pissed.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

I do, however, pronounce 'cshrc' as 'see-shark' :) -- Dagonell

[(Anonymous)]

I know of someone who pronounced www "Sextuple u"

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

I should clarify that I *usually* use "s-q-l" but I've been known to use "sequel" in speech

[dglenn.livejournal.com]

In the cases of WHO and SQL, I pronounce them both ways depending on audience, phase of moon, whim, and the meter of surrounding words in the sentence. Except that I say "seeq'l" instead of "sequel" for SQL.

Where I live now has an accent distinct from where I grew up, a difference more pronounced that the geographical proximity would suggest (Maryland's like that).

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

I pronounce World Health Organisation as World Health Organisation as I don't need to refer to it often enough for it to be abbreviated (why pick that one, out of interest?). And www is double-yoo double-yoo double-yoo because thats how I pronounce a w.

[dmnsqrl.livejournal.com]

I say both s-q-l and sequel.

And I can't say that I refer to the World Health Organization enough to really know how I would say its abbreviation

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

I took a database class in college where the instructor insisted on "SQL". He'd worked for IBM's SEQUEL (http://www.15seconds.com/issue/020522.htm) group and had been involved with both the SQL and SEQUEL (http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=811515) standard/docs, so he had to differentiate between them. He used "S-Q-L" for the language, "IBM Sequel" for the commercial product, and "The SEQUEL paper" to refer to the ACM doc. That seemed reasonable to me, so I stayed with that usage.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

"The Who" is/are a rock band. I'll often pronounce the health bureau as "World Health Org" 'cos it's actually shorter to way. (In English, as opposed to German.)

[kayre]

I wonder if age isn't more of a determining factor than the geographical question. (I'm 46, to give you one data point.)

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

On the rare occasions when I pronounce the "www" in a u-r-l (and I should call it a U-R-I, right?) I say "wah-wah-wah".

It has been pointed out to me that it takes more time and syllables to say "double-u, double-u, double-u" than to say almost anything else. So I say "wah-wah-wah".

[jducoeur]

As mentioned in the other thread, my *preferred* pronunciation of "www" is "triple-dub". In practice, I'm all over the map in how I pronounce it.

(And I think I vary on the WHO.)

since it won't let me fill in the blanks

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

u-r-l, faq, not familiar with sql, w-h-o, either skip or spell out ("double-u, double-u, double-u") depending on if the person I'm talking to seems to have clue or need it.

I learned to talk in NYC (and I live there now), but I also learned a lot of language from books (including British), PBS, foreign teachers (including bilingual schooling), etc, so I've been told fairly often that I (a) don't sound like I'm from NYC* and (b) that I sound British/other. (The "British" may also partly be some older NYC which I picked up from my great-great aunt, my grandparents, and a couple of their cousins since some older NYC is noticeably closer to "British" than modern NYC is.)

I once accidentally confused a Texan linguistics prof (who knew I was from NYC) because I'd just spent a long weekend with a Texan friend and brought back some of his accent w/o realizing it, and just today a colleague who's from western PA (I think) said I sounded like his mom 'cause I said "idjit" for "idiot" (I also pronounce it "ideeyit").

*I think this is usually meant as I don't have the stereotypical "NYC" accent (really more Brooklyn/Queens than Manhattan/Bronx - I'm not sure about Staten Island).

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I pronounce "www" as "Wubba wubba wubba."

Nobody knows what I mean when I say it, but it amuses me.

[siderea]

I use "wa-wa-wa". But run together: wawawa.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

My "something else" is "wuh-wuh-wuh". Serves the same purpose as "dub-dub-dub" but it's easier to say because you don't have the /b/ and /d/ up against each other. OTOH (oh-tee-oh-aitch), I will say "double-you-double-you-double-you" if I don't expect my listener to be used to web address conventions and thus able to translate "wuh-wuh-wuh".