TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Articles with Acronyms From:"Sandy, Corinne" <CHS8 -at- CPSOD1 -dot- EM -dot- CDC -dot- GOV> Date:Thu, 12 Jan 1995 09:12:00 EST
Something caught my eye during this discussion. I read in some style guide
a long time ago that "an" before a word beginning with "h" is not
incorrect. An "a" should be used. The rationale is because,
historically, h's were not pronounced . Instead of pronouncing "history"
it used to be pronounced 'istory. And because of this, "an" was used.
Now-a-days in English, it is pronounced history, so an is supposedly
obsolete. Consequently, I write and say "a" before "h." The funny thing
is, though, that I was tempted to write "an" when writing this e-mail
anytime I was going to write "h." So, now I'm not sure. What do you
think?
Corinne
----------
From: TECHWR-L
To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Articles with Acronyms
Date: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 11:33AM
Return-Path: <TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
Received: from msmail by SmtpIn.em.cdc.gov id <2F1259AB -at- SmtpIn -dot- em -dot- cdc -dot- gov>;
Tue, 10 Jan 95 13:55:55 EST
Received: from VM1.ucc.okstate.edu by msmail (5.0/SMI-SVR4) id AA06453; Tue,
10 Jan 1995 13:47:38 -0500
Message-Id: <9501101847 -dot- AA06453 -at- msmail>
Received: from OSUVM1.BITNET by VM1.ucc.okstate.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with
BSMTP id 9896; Tue, 10 Jan 95 12:42:55 CST
Received: from VM1.UCC.OKSTATE.EDU by OSUVM1.BITNET (Mailer R2.08 R208004)
with BSMTP id 1053; Tue, 10 Jan 95 12:11:29 CST
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 11:33:21 -0600
Reply-To: Mercury!tsh!dan -at- MCS -dot- NET
Sender: "Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues"
<TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
From: Dan Glovier <Mercury!tsh!dan -at- MCS -dot- NET>
Subject: Re: Articles with Acronyms
Comments: To: VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu!TECHWR-L -at- kitten -dot- mcs -dot- com
To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L <TECHWR-L -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET>
In-Reply-To: <m0rRjfB-000BqfC -at- mercury -dot- mcs -dot- com>
content-length: 1095
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
The Gods overheard Kelly Burhenne state:
> Question: When using an acronym (as you all know, very prevalent in our
> profession) preceded by an article, should you use the article that
> agrees with the first word the acronym represents, or use the article
> that agrees with the pronunciation of the acronym.
> e.g.: an FTP
> a FTP
> a SS2000 (SiteScan 2000)
> or an SS2000
> Kelly Burhenne
> burhennk -at- smtpgw -dot- liebert -dot- com
Kelly,
Use the article that agrees with the pronunciation of
acronym (i.e. an FTP).
Quoting from my Little, Brown Handbook (pg. 546):
When you use an abbreviation or acronym in writing, the article that
precedes it depends on how the abbreviation is to be read:
She was once an HEW undersecretary. (HEW is to be read as three letters,
not as a word or as Health, Education, and Welfare.) Many Americans
opposed a SALT treaty. (SALT is to be read as one word, salt, not as
four separate leatters.)
--
Dan Glovier
dan -at- tsh -dot- com
"A million years of evolution, we get Danny Quayle."
- "Insanity" Boingo
