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Subject:RE: Do you pronounce... From:"Gordon McLean" <Gordon -dot- McLean -at- GrahamTechnology -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:24:23 +0100
Gut reaction: "an".
I'm pretty sure at least one style guide will back me up (what are the odds
eh?) that if the pronunciation of an abbreviation uses a vowel... Treat it
as such.
And there is no doubt that this is an abbreviation, not a word.
Fekudden indeed, pah!
Gordon
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www.onemanwrites.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=grahamtechnology -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=grahamtechnology -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of McLauchlan, Kevin
Sent: 10 October 2007 15:32
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Do you pronounce...
FQDN as "Fully Qualified Domain Name", or as "Eff Cue Dee Enn" ?
And please, nobody say it's a Fekudden.
Somebody wanted a summary of FQDN and the rules for the fields, and the
discussion went back and forth in e-mail with one person talking about "an
FQDN" and the other about "a FQDN", indicating that the first person
pronounces the letters of the initialism, and the second person either
always speaks out the full four-word name (even in his head?) or else calls
it a Fekudden... which I simply won't allow in my docs.
What I want to know is what most people feel is natural when they see the
thing written.
I'm in the Eff Cue Dee Enn camp, so I would write it with the "an" form of
the indefinite article preceding. Every time I read the other fellow's "a
FQDN" I found myself uncomfortably sub-vocalizing "a Fekudden"...... nasty.
And yet, there he is, and he's a native english speaker, so ... is there a
majority opinion?
Anyone?
Kevin
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