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.
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.
Never heard someone say earl for URL and I would not understand if someone did. That’s like if i pronounced FBI freebie
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.
