Re: your mail

[Robert Bononno <bononno -at- ACF2 -dot- NYU -dot- EDU>]

I just caught this thread. In the case of SQL, however, it's _pronounced_
"sequel". Wouldn't that mean you would use "a" rather than "an"?

     Robert Bononno /// Techline
     bononno -at- acf2 -dot- nyu -dot- edu
     CIS 73670,1570



On Wed, 22 Jun 1994, Undetermined origin c/o Postmaster wrote:

> I totally agree with you, Mary.  Before using an acronym you should use the
> appropriate article.  Before an S, you use "an" because you would spell "S"
> as "ess."  Before an E you use "an." And before any other consonant that
> sounds like it begins with a vowel, you use "an" instead of A.  I have
> argued with many engineers over this issue, but most conflict comes from
> those that speak another language other than English as their native
> language.  English is definately a difficult language to understand.  Rules
> are not specific and do not always apply.  Life was never meant to be easy.

> Jenny Fornaca

> At  2:49 PM 6/21/94 -0700, Mary Bull wrote:
> >Glen Accardo,glen -at- SOFTINT -dot- COM,Internet asks about which article to use with
> >SQL. I guess I'm from the conservative side when it comes to acronyms. I've
> >always regarded acronyms as strings of letters and not words. Which means I'd
> >use "an" with "SQL". If the speaker wants to combine the letters into a
> >pseudo-word, fine. But the written text should reflect acronyms just being
> >letter combinations.
> >
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