Acronyms that confuse you

[Red Storm]

I always called it Jiff, in the same vein as Jeff vs. Geoff. I never heard a single person say it with a hard G IRL until the pronunciation wars started.

I also say Apple O-S-X instead of OS Ten.

Funny it's the opposite for me. Everyone I know says gif with a hard G.

 

[tynopik]

goat and GOAT

i grew with up with 'the goat' being the one to blame for some unfortunate circumstance

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

If you're in the Air Force, not only do you have military acronyms to contend with, but you also have aviation acronyms.

The F-35 has STOVL capability. It can carry ASRAAMs, JASSMs, ande JDAMs. You can fly to a VORTAC using a SID like normal commercial aircraft operators.

Just a basic idea of what I'm referring to.

Acronyms for hardware make sense due to the godawful naming folks. Ones for units though are assinine.

 

[dullard]

the inventor of the .gif format says it with a 'j' sound

That is correct. It is pronounced J, for Graphics. Oh, and Graphics is pronounced like the tall yellowish animal with brown spots and a long neck in case you get confused.

 

[dullard]

I always struggle with AND Optoelectronics. https://www.purdyelectronics.com/products/and_opto

Why on Earth would you name your company/product after an unsearchable term?

 

[snoopy7548]

the inventor of the .gif format says it with a 'j' sound

Intuitively, you pronounce it with a hard G, like gift. Jif already exists (Jif peanut butter) so the inventor is an idiot who just wanted to confuse people for no good reason.

 

[tynopik]

Intuitively, you pronounce it with a hard G, like gift

then you intuitively realize that sounds stupid and switch to jif

 

[Nashemon]

Game acronyms get recycled every 3-4 years and it gets confusing.

D2 = Doom 2 -> Diablo 2
BF = Battlefield -> BattleFront
MW = MechWarrior -> Modern Warfare

Etc.

SC always gets me riled up. It means Soul Calibur to me every time I see it. But no, they were talking about Star Craft, or Star Citizen, or Sonic Chaos. ugh...I wish people wouldn't do this with any game.

 

[snoopy7548]

SMW is weird too. Super Mario World? Shaking My Weiner?

 

[tynopik]

M3 - is it BMW or Tesla?

 

[snoopy7548]

Game acronyms get recycled every 3-4 years and it gets confusing.

D2 = Doom 2 -> Diablo 2
BF = Battlefield -> BattleFront
MW = MechWarrior -> Modern Warfare

Etc.

Or maybe it's that weird survival horror game D2...

 

[Charmonium]

the inventor of the .gif format says it with a 'j' sound

In that case, I'd very much like to know his reasoning. Was he just enamored of how f***ed up the English language is with words like tough and rough and wanted to make his own small contribution to the confusion? Did the letter 'g' kick his puppy when he was a child? Seriously, I want to know.

then you intuitively realize that sounds stupid and switch to jif

Hmm. There are two sides to the 'it sounds stupid' coin.

 

[tynopik]

In that case, I'd very much like to know his reasoning. Was he just enamored of how f***ed up the English language is with words like tough and rough and wanted to make his own small contribution to the confusion? Did the letter 'g' kick his puppy when he was a child? Seriously, I want to know.

it's a perfectly cromulent pronunciation of the letter

giraffe
genesis
giant
gym
Geoffrey

 

[tynopik]

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-two-sounds-of-g/

General Rules
If the g is followed by e, i, or y, the pronunciation is “soft g”:
g+i: magic, margin, origin, engine
g+e: page, generation, detergent, vengeance
g+y: astrology Egyptian gym

 

[FeuerFrei]

Or maybe it's that weird survival horror game D2...

Oh please, D2 is a type of steel. Kind of a step above budget, in the knife industry. Not too stainless.

 

[NoTine42]

From the Whole Foods thread, I still giggle when cash registers are called POS systems.

How was that like when the 1st sales guy called a store manager and asked for an appointment to demonstrate a POS?

 

[tynopik]

not an acronym per se, but i still refuse to call a humvee a hummer

i did change from thong to flip-flop

 

[Oyeve]

SJW.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Thing is... If an acronym confuses you (and most do the first couple times you see them), you typically look it up. And then it doesn't confuse you any more. And... context.

SJW is good one. Had no idea what it meant. Now I do. Along the way I learned it was a "thing" among the right wingnuts who wish they could still behave like it was 1950.

 

[IronWing]

In that case, I'd very much like to know his reasoning. Was he just enamored of how f***ed up the English language is with words like tough and rough and wanted to make his own small contribution to the confusion? Did the letter 'g' kick his puppy when he was a child? Seriously, I want to know.

Hmm. There are two sides to the 'it sounds stupid' coin.

Yes, and the hard g side sounds more stupiderest. PNG is my favorite squeeze anyway.

 

[tynopik]

Thing is... If an acronym confuses you (and most do the first couple times you see them), you typically look it up. And then it doesn't confuse you any more. And... context.

this thread was originally about acronyms that can have multiple meanings, so even if you know all the definitions, it can still be confusing. Especially if the context is thin.

"D2 is my favorite game!"

 

[Carson Dyle]

"I just checked in the latest patches to CVS. Should be able to pick up my prescription in about twenty minutes."

Yes, that would be confusing.

 

[MtnMan]

I hate TLA's





















three letter acronyms

 

[Exterous]

NFS - I still occasionally think of the game instead of the file system. Doesn't help that I also occasionally do NFS storage projects for people working with or with funds from the NSF and did a long project for a different NSF (National Science Foundation and NSF International but both just like going by NSF)

 

[Kaido]

That is correct. It is pronounced J, for Graphics. Oh, and Graphics is pronounced like the tall yellowish animal with brown spots and a long neck in case you get confused.