Is there some hidden pronounciation rule I’m not aware of? And why do we say F.B.I and not FBI or U.S.B and not USB ?
I know it seems a really silly question seeing the actual situation with the ICE eveywhere on the news… But this really bothers me on why people yell ICE when it’s actually the I.C.E :/.
NASA, NATO, Radar, Sonar, Laser, Scuba, AIDS, PIN, SWAT, YOLO, CAD
The rule genuinely is “if it can be said as a word, it might be said as a word”.
They’re called acronyms.
BBC, TV, USSR etc. can’t easily be said as a word - these are just
initialisationsinitialisms.The word you are looking for is not “initialisation,” but “initialism.”
Good catch! You are 100% correct.
I’ll update the message, but strikethrough the original so this still makes sense.
Thanks! I’m glad I could help.
Okay I get that ! But in the case of the ICE both are actually acceptable.
I.C.E sounds good so those ICE. I guess in this context as some else said, it’s because they are “ice cold” (in this context).
Would it be acceptable in a conversation to talk about the I.C.E ?
I.C.E.s are trains in Germany. ICE are assholes in the US. Hope that helps.
I do say FBI, though: pronounced like “Phoebe”
But nobody likes it when I do.
Acronyms vs Initialisms
No one is going to try pronounce Fbi, it’s awkward.
There are terms that bridge the Acronym/Initialism divide. SQL-Sequel, URL-Earl and GUI-Gooey are some that come up fairly regularly in my line of work.
The bottom line is; Language is used to communicate concepts. We are lazy and do it as efficiently as we can get away with. The rules have changed a LOT to get us where we are today. It would be blind hubris to think the change will stop just because we don’t like it.
Never heard someone say earl for URL and I would not understand if someone did. That’s like if i pronounced FBI freebie
Funny enough… I do say S.Q.L or U.R.L 😅
SQL, back in 2015, officially transitioned from being pronounced Sequel to being pronounced EssQueueEll.
I still call it Sequel.
Then again, I say U R L, but also pronounce URI as Yuri. I also say L O L instead of Loll and I R L instead of Earl.
And then there’s mixed acronyms like Jaypeg and Empeg.
FBI and USB aren’t words, ICE is.
POTUS isn’t actually a word, but it’s often pronounced that way.
The Depot of Transportation is often reduced to DOT.
ICE=Immigration and Customs Enforcement
FBI=Federal Bureau of Investigation
USB=Universal Serial Bus
None of those are words :/ but an acronym.
Perhaps you should read twice before you try to correct someone.
