RE: A/An

["Bissell, Johanna" <Johanna -dot- Bissell -at- ASAMRA -dot- HOFFMAN -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

That is basically what Chicago Manual of Style 14.15 (page 464) states (that
the choice depends on the pronouncement of the first letter, if the letters
are pronounced individually - as opposed to pronouncing them as a word).
They also have some decent examples:

abbreviations said as individual letters:

an NAACP position 
a TVA power station

abbreviations said as a word:

a NATO meeting
a LOOM parade

Hannah Bissell
SI-ECC - Technical Writer

"...because life is too short to waste it whining."

-----Original Message-----
From: Marguerite Krupp [mailto:mkrupp -at- cisco -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 10:48 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: A/An


There actually is a rule about this, though I can't cite the source off the
top of my head. Read it aloud. If you would pronounce "SI" as "sigh," then
the article "a" is appropriate. If, on the other hand, you would pronounce
it as two separate letters, the first of which begins with the "eh" sound
(that is, "eh-ss"), then use the article "an." Same for MS.

Marguerite

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