Re: Another load of typos

[Florian Zumbiehl <florz@gmx.de>]

Hi,

> > The rule I am following is that "a" vs. "an" is decided by pronounciation
> > only - i.e., it's "an eff ey kju", but "a FAT file system". After all,
> > that's how the exact letters are most easily read (without expanding
> > acronyms or such).
> 
> Your rule is correct: it is determined by pronunciation only.  But
> what you have missed is that many people pronounce FAQ as "fack".

Well, I had the impression that FAQ was picked randomly by Joey - though
it might be a bad choice for an example here :-)

In the google results, Joey's rule to consider the expanded form, is
mentioned as a possibility on this page:

http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/archives/9903/techwhirl-9903-00224.html

Though, as I wrote, there don't seem to be many people using that rule.

Apart from whether determining use of "a" vs. "an" by the expanded form
of an acronym should be considered correct or not, of course, there might
be particular acronyms, such as FAQ, that are pronounced letter-by-letter
only by some and due to that fact might be correct with either form.

Cya, Florian