4 ms·

> Try to say "stimulated" with a /z/ (as in "LASER"). Yup, and there are plenty of others too: SCUBA - U as in uh-nderwater SIM / VIN - I as in I-dentificati

by xscott 5y ago

> Try to say "stimulated" with a /z/ (as in "LASER"). Yup, and there are plenty of others too: SCUBA - U as in uh-nderwater SIM / VIN - I as in I-dentification YOLO - second O as in wuh-nce CAPTCHA - first A as in aw-tomated AWOL - soft a-bsent ICE - ih-mmigration and Customs Enforcement NATO - soft A-tlantic OCONUS - ow-tside OSHA - ah-ccupational SCOTUS / POTUS - uh-f AIDS - a-cquired It's really a long list if you look. I vote for GIF with a J sound.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
It bothers me a little that all of your examples are vowels. Especially when you include OSHA in the list of examples. It's not the Shafety and Shealth Administration.
- Fishkins 5y ago
  One consonant example: CUNY is pronounced with a hard C, but we don't say "New York Kitty"
- xscott 5y ago
  That's a really good point. It seems like most English consonants have roughly one way to pronounce them, particular as a first letter in a word as in an acronym. I guess I should've looked for acronyms built on Ch, Ph, Sh, Th, Wh, Ph, hard or soft C's, and of course hard or soft G's (ginger, gypsy). Here's a soft G word making a hard G acronym, and a hard G word making a soft G acronyn: GAD - Generalized Anxiety Disorder GEMA - Gas and Electric Markets Authority Some other non-G examples: PAL - Phase Alternating Line PAWS - Phased Array Warning System SWF - ShockWave Flash They're much harder to find though.