SATA, ATA, IDE, etc ARE NOT ACRONYMS. They are abbreviations.

[CZroe]

It's getting worse. More and more people are trying to make acronyms out of every tech abbreviation.

Some of it has just gotten out of hand. I mean, I've had people incorrectly try to pronounce CPU, MHz, PCI, AGP and other crap but that's not what I'm talking about (I just assume that they are newbies). It's the stuff that's so pervasive that everyone, even seasoned techies, thinks that it's supposed to be that way. I'm just tired of hearing this stuff constantly on Tech TV and at LAN parties and I don't want to feel like an ass by correcting people there.

SATA is *not* "Sat-uh". It's "S. A. T. A." (Or "Serial A. T. A.")
ATA is *not* "At-uh". It's "A. T. A."
IDE is *not* "I'd" it's "I. D. E." (Honestly, how would you pronounce "EIDE"?)

They are abbreviations and are no more an acronym than "PCMCIA".

But that's not why I'm making the post either. It's really the grey-area stuff (How can I correct friends if I'm not sure about it myself? ).

For example, in my classes the students were taught to call ISA "Eye-sa" but I'm almost sure that it is not supposed to be despite it being pervasive there and elsewhere. It's perfectly pronouncable, but awkward and stupid-sounding if wrong.

So this thread is primarily to clarify things for all of us, including me. Anyone have any to contribute, prove or disprove? I stand by the notion that you don't pronounce everything just because you can. If VLB, PCI, AGP, MCA, RS232, RJ11, and RJ45 are not acronyms, then neither is ISA or EISA IMO.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, so what's the proper pronunciation for "CZroe" then

<--- obscure, yes... but pronounceable



BTW, you were wondering about the gigabit network performance and I finally did get to test a straight Cat5e crossover cable versus a full-on gigabit switch. Same performance level, turned out.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Ok, so what's the proper pronunciation for "CZroe" then

<--- obscure, yes... but pronounceable



BTW, you were wondering about the gigabit network performance and I finally did get to test a straight Cat5e crossover cable versus a full-on gigabit switch. Same performance level, turned out.

Great to hear! Thanks

-See Z. Row
-Zorro
-Czar-o
-CyberZer0
-Whatever-the-heckio

 

[Shooters]

How the hell would you try to pronounce MHz?...muh-hizz?

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, I thought maybe your first name was Caesar and your last name started with O.

Here is my contribution to the topic: SCSI = Small Computer System Interface, but if I hear anyone say ess see ess eye instead of "scuzzy," I'm gonna be very surprised.

 

[Algere]

AFAIK they are acronyms nor do I believe they are pronounced as a abbreviation either.

acronym = IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
abbreviation = Mr. (Mister) or Bike (Bicycle)

What I think your getting @ is that ppl are saying the whole word instead of wording each letter individually. e.g. saying uh-sa instead of U-S-A.

 

[Pariah]

Sorry to disappoint, but SATA, ATA and IDE are all acronyms not abbreviations. That said, I've never heard anyone try to pronounce any of them.

 

[wolfx7777]

Originally posted by: Algere
AFAIK they are acronyms nor do I believe they are pronounced as a abbreviation either.

acronym = IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
abbreviation = Mr. (Mister) or Bike (bicycle)

What I think your getting @ is that ppl are saying the whole word instead of wording each letter individually. e.g. saying uh-sa instead of U-S-A.

lol USA - uhsa .. now you sound like USA (uh'sa) canadians... eh ?

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Shooters
How the hell would you try to pronounce MHz?...muh-hizz?

Yeah, it was very awkward

Originally posted by: Algere
AFAIK they are acronyms nor do I believe they are pronounced as a abbreviation either.

acronym = IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
abbreviation = Mr. (Mister) or Bike (bicycle)

What I think your getting @ is that ppl are saying the whole word instead of wording each letter individually. e.g. saying uh-sa instead of U-S-A.

NATO is an acronym, but IDE is not. See the definition.

Better yet, here's a good read

Correction, May 3, 2004: This piece originally referred to KFC, TCBY, ESPN and YM as acronyms. Linguistic sticklers have since pointed out that these abbreviations are not, in fact, acronyms. An acronym is a pronounceable word that consists of the first initials or syllables of the words in another phrase?think PAC for "political action committee," or snafu for "situation normal all f----d up." Only if the chicken-eating public regularly pronounced the name KFC as "kuffick" could Slate safely term it an acronym. We stand corrected. Return to the first corrected instance.

 

[Pariah]

Webster's dictionary:

Main Entry: ac·ro·nym
Pronunciation: 'a-kr&amp;-"nim
Function: noun
Etymology: acr- + -onym
: a word (as NATO, radar, or snafu) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters : INITIALISM




They don't have to be pronounceable to be an acronym. The example they give in the definition isn't even pronounceable, unless you're telling me you say "fibee" instead of F - B - I.

 

[Algere]

NM, take a portion of what I said back

NATO said as a word is said as NATO hence acronym while IDE is said as I-D-E. According to that def anyways.

EDIT: Gawd the english language is confusing. Both definitions are probably right. Now IMO just an example of how the rules of english language can change.

 

[n0cmonkey]

ATA, SATA, SCSI, etc should all be pronounced phoenetically. MHZ or other such terms shouldn't. SATA is quicker than S. A. T. A. So screw it.

 

[gsellis]

Wah!

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Webster's dictionary:

Main Entry: ac·ro·nym
Pronunciation: 'a-kr&amp;-"nim
Function: noun
Etymology: acr- + -onym
: a word (as NATO, radar, or snafu) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters : INITIALISM




They don't have to be pronounceable to be an acronym. The example they give in the definition isn't even pronounceable, unless you're telling me you say "fibee" instead of F - B - I.

I think Webster is wrong

Actually, it says acronyms are abbreviations. It says FBI is an abbreviation. It does not explicitly state the FBI is an acronym.

This page has probably got it right (Grammar guide with in-depth usage for all sorts of acronyms and abbreviations)

Acronyms
There is a difference between acronyms and abbreviations. An acronym is usually formed by taking the first initials of a phrase or compounded-word and using those initials to form a word that stands for something. Thus NATO, which we pronounce NATOH, is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and LASER (which we pronounce "lazer"), is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. FBI, then, is not really an acronym for the Federal Bureau of Investigation; it is an abbreviation. AIDS is an acronym; HIV is an abbreviation. URL is an abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator (World Wide Web address), but many people pronounce it as "Earl," making it a true acronym, and others insist on pronouncing it as three separate letters, "U * R * L," thus making it an abbreviation. The jury is still out. (I vote for Uncle Earl.)

I don't.

 

[Algere]

Well whatever the rules are I pronounce SATA as Serial A-T-A.

 

[Pariah]

There is no definition of whether are not an acronym is pronounceable, it comes down to what the masses adopt. How do you get "skuzzy" out of "SCSI?" Try phonetically pronouncing SCSI, good luck. There's clearly no consensus on what is correct. Who really cares if someone wants to pronounce ATA? I've never heard anyone do it, but I certainly wouldn't pay it any mind if I heard someone do it. Nor would I try to feed them some it's not an acronym, don't pronounce it junk which would probably get me laughed at more than trying to say ATA.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
ATA, SATA, SCSI, etc should all be pronounced phoenetically. MHZ or other such terms shouldn't. SATA is quicker than S. A. T. A. So screw it.

SCSI should be pronounced phonetically, but SATA and ATA shouldn't. Don't ask me for a reason

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Pariah
There is no definition of whether are not an acronym is pronounceable, it comes down to what the masses adopt. How do you get "skuzzy" out of "SCSI?" Try phonetically pronouncing SCSI, good luck. There's clearly no consensus on what is correct. Who really cares if someone wants to pronounce ATA? I've never heard anyone do it, but I certainly wouldn't pay it any mind if I heard someone do it. Nor would I try to feed them some it's not an acronym, don't pronounce is junk.

Well, for one thing, I had a technology book in an introductory class a few years ago which blatantly said that you are to pronounce absolutely every IT-related acronym (Interpreted by them as any technology letter abbreviation). Hillarity ensued. ATX. CPU. PIO. IRQ. ACPI. MPS. LCD. The thing is, years later in other classes I still saw people doing what that book told them (It was a required class) INCLUDING THE PROFESSORS. It was also one of those books that said the case / chassis was called the CPU, though other classes explictly said to NEVER call it that.

SCSI is accepted. Just like GUI. It pre-dates the "consumer trend" to call it like they read it as the engineers who implemented these technologies and concepts spread this form of reference by word of mouth.

 

[WobbleWobble]

SQL = Sequel? I've heard that one debated

WYSIWYG, while not a computer term I'm sure originated from HTML editors. I wonder who came up with "wizz-ee-wig"

As noted about, SCSI = "scuzzy" is interesting as well. Asides from these 3 examples, I usually spell out the letters IDE, ATA, USB etc.

 

[Zepper]

Actually an acronym is supposed to be an attempt to make a pronounceable word from the initialization - e.g. that looney-bin PETA, and the name (of the group, etc.) is designed that way in advance... The way initializations are normally done in techy circles (after the fact), pronounceable words are seldom the result (and duplications are common), so you occasionally end up with nicknames like 'scuzzy'. But some accidentally and occasionally work, e.g. DARPA.
.bh.

 

[Maximilian]

If its got more than three letters then it should be pronounced like SATA= sat ah but IDE= I.D.E
Probably not the correct way but it still, it works.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: Soviet
If its got more than three letters then it should be pronounced like SATA= sat ah but IDE= I.D.E
Probably not the correct way but it still, it works.

That sounds more reasonable, but I wouldn't go by it. Don't forget PCMCIA. "S" is just short for "Serial" so I see no reason why it should change the pronunciation of "ATA".

 

[thorin]

This topic has been covered at length already

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&amp;threadid=1231810&amp;arctab=arc

Thorin

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
ATA, SATA, SCSI, etc should all be pronounced phoenetically. MHZ or other such terms shouldn't. SATA is quicker than S. A. T. A. So screw it.

SCSI should be pronounced phonetically, but SATA and ATA shouldn't. Don't ask me for a reason

When I'm tired or drunk (being tired is more likely for me these days) I sometimes talk fast, so sata instead of S. A. T. A. is faster. That's all the reason I need to say it like that.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
SQL = Sequel? I've heard that one debated

squeel.