"a" versus "an" with an acronym

Subject: "a" versus "an" with an acronym
From: Mike Ingram <MIngram -at- SCIENTECH -dot- COM>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 14:40:36 -0700

Here's another slant to this. What do you _read_ when you read the acronym?
For instance, if you see "A N.Y. Yankee won the batting title this year."
Do you read N.Y. or New York? I think most everyone would read New York,
thus an "a" would be used. And in an example used earlier, would people
read "MSDS" (thus an "an") or automatically read "Material Safety Data
Sheet" (thus an "a"). Maybe the latter decision depends on the audience?
Any other slants out there?






Mike Ingram, Senior Writer/Editor SCIENTECH, Inc.
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