- From: Charles F. Munat <chas@munat.com>
- Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 22:39:01 -0800
- To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Kynn wrote: "I'm not sure about that. What exactly do you call "CIO" or "HTML"? Do you say "See Eye Oh" or do you say "Sigh-Oh"? Do you say "hutmul" or do you say "Aitch Tee Em Ell"? Or are CIO and HTML neither abbreviations nor acronyms?" CIO and HTML are abbreviations formed using initials. They are not acronyms. But in the worlds of business and particularly software, initials have become popular alternatives to spelling everything out. The problem is that, while convenient, these can hurt communication. I suspect that even on this list there are people who do not know what CIO stands for. Saying "chief information officer" instead of "CIO" - at least occasionally - might help. But yes, I say "see aye oh" and "aitch tee em el." Similarly, SQL is really a set of initials, not an acronym. Pronouncing it "sequel" blurs the distinction between initials and acronyms and further confuses the issue (not that I haven't been guilty of this). I've never heard CIO spoken "sigh-oh" or HTML pronounced "hutmull." Personally, I think that stretches convenience into laziness and tortures the language a bit too severely for my ears. Really, the best acronyms are those that produce a new meaning when pronounced (see MADD below). I find pronouncing WAI as the "way" is kind of clever (since it is definitely the way IMO). But I suppose it could be the why, too. (Actually, that might make more sense. Wai? Because of the wai it's spelled.) Kynn: "Pronunciation, as identified in the HTML 4.01 spec, is an issue for stylesheets. "WAI" may be "dubya ay eye" to some people and "way" to others and "why" to yet more folks. SQL and URL are examples of ambiguity cited in the HTML 4.01 spec." This is a good reason for organizations like the WAI to establish a set pronunciation (and for the use of acronym to establish that pronunciation). Agreed upon pronunciations promote communication. Of course, "way" may sound like "why" to an American when spoken by someone from the UK, but that can be attributed to accent. It would help if two people with the same accent pronounced WAI in the same manner. As for attribute or style sheet, I can see arguments for both. (BTW, W is pronounced "double-U.") Kynn: "Exactly: As defined by the HTML 4.01 spec, the ACRONYM element is of no use." I agree. But there are two courses of action possible: ignore/abolish it or give it a unique meaning. I favor the second because I believe that it is a distinction worth mentioning (and because I believe that the more semantic information we can encode, the better). To use an example I've used before, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is an acronym that loses a significant part of it's meaning if it is spelled out instead of being pronounced "mad." Chas. Munat
Received on Tuesday, 6 February 2001 01:31:38 UTC