Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 13:03:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Annelise Anderson <andrsn@ANDRSN.STANFORD.EDU> To: Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be> Cc: Jamie Bowden <ragnar@sysabend.org>, Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@online.fr>, Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Alexey Dokuchaev <danfe@regency.nsu.ru>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/alpha/alpha clock.c Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10205211257490.26365-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu> In-Reply-To: <p05111708b90ff38b1dcb@[10.0.1.4]>
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On Tue, 21 May 2002, Brad Knowles wrote: > > The real problem is when you are referring to something via an > acronym or initialism, and the acronym/initialism sounds like it > begins with a vowel, whereas the actual phrase spelled out begins > with a consonant. Take "WWW" for example -- is it "an WWW page" or > "a WWW page"? Clearly, if you were to spell it out, it would be "a > world-wide web page", but how do you deal with the initialism? > To me, WWW begins with a consonant whether it's W-W-W or worldwide web. But the rule is not hard. It depends on the pronunciation. Thus, "a U.N. directive", but "an unidentified source." "A hero", but "an heroic act." "A history book", but "an historical novel". (What makes "historical" begin with a vowel sound here is that the accent is on the second syllable.) "A UPS device", but "an upside-down cake". The only problem occurs when you don't know the pronunciation. Annelise -- Annelise Anderson Author of: FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC Available from: BSDmall.com and amazon.com Book Website: http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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