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For the abbreviation,"an FOIA" is correct. For the term "a Freedom of Information act" is correct. Its based on the sounds, not the word being abbreviated.
by jeremy7600 10y ago
For the abbreviation,"an FOIA" is correct. For the term "a Freedom of Information act" is correct. Its based on the sounds, not the word being abbreviated.
- jeremy7600 10y agoIe: an F. Ie: a friend.
- tkxxx7 10y agomaybe they're reading "a foy-uh"
- jeremy7600 10y agoGot any references to anyone speaking a foy-uh out loud? Ive only ever know it to be 4 letters, said discretely, and not as a word like SQL.
- cjbprime 10y agoI don't have a citation, but am sure I've heard people say "foya requests" out loud, probably lawyers at hacker conferences.
- enraged_camel 10y agoI work with government people and contractors a lot and I've never heard it not pronounced "foya."
- morganvachon 10y agoI would cringe when I would hear pronounced acronyms like "sequel" and "scuzzy" (SQL and SCSI) back in college; some acronyms simply aren't meant to be pronounced as words, especially if the pronounced word gave an uninformed listener the wrong impression. "Eww, why does my computer need to be scuzzy??"
- cjbprime 10y agoThough note that: > It was initially called “Structured English Query Language” (SEQUEL) and pronounced “sequel”, though it later had to have its name shortened to “Structured Query Language” (SQL) due to trademark issues.
- macintux 10y agoI don't think, even in its heyday, I ever heard "SCSI" pronounced as anything but "scuzzy". Much more efficient and universally understood.
- jessaustin 10y agoI've only heard "foya", and I find "sequel" for "SQL" to grate like nails on a chalkboard. YMMV!
- riffic 10y agoI'm now imagining that's pronounced Yim-Vee!
- Bognar 10y ago"a FOIA" is correct if you pronounce it "foya".
- cujo 10y agoI believe the reason for "a FOIA" is "FOIA" is being pronounced as a word like "foya" instead of the individual letters "F-O-I-A".
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]