TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Articles with Initialisms From:WandaJane Phillips <wandajp -at- ANDYNE -dot- ON -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 23 Feb 1996 12:22:11 -0500
Beverly Parks wrote:
> > Folks, the article before an initialism such as SME should match the
> > "sound" of the first pronounced letter. As I am sure all of us know, a
> > vowel sound calls for the article "an." Thus we should write AN SME
> > (ess begins with a vowel sound) and AN ESLer (ee begins with a vowel
> > sound).
> Dan, you are absolutely correct. The problem, however,
> especially with SME, is that not everyone says it the same way.
> As you do, I say "ess-em-eee", so would naturally write "an
> SME". Other people pronounce it as "smee", so they naturally
> write "a SME".
> Side note: Since I've been subscribed to this list, I find
> myself thinking "smee" more often when I see those letters
> "SME". You folks have quite an influence. 8-)This resembles a thread we had earlier about URL and earls. This morning
while getting ready for work my lodger said *They've set up an earl for
the weather at the ski resort*
My head shot up, I had never considered saying earl until the discussion
here, nor do I say smee -- sounds like the fellow in Peter Pan. But it
was very interesting to actually HEAR earl where I would have said
U-R-L.
--
WandaJane Phillips
Senior Technical Writer -- Pablo
Andyne Computing
Usual disclaimers in effect
