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> Question: When using an acronym (as you all know, very prevalent in our
> profession) preceded by an article, should you use the article that
> agrees with the first word the acronym represents, or use the article
> that agrees with the pronunciation of the acronym.
> e.g.: an FTP
> a FTP
> a SS2000 (SiteScan 2000)
> or an SS2000
As most other people have said, use the article that agrees with the
most common pronunciation (in the example, "an ftp").
As I haven't seen anyone else say, if people pronounce the term in various
ways, establish the pronunciation you are using to justify the article.
For example, the term "SQL" is tricky because some people pronounce it
"ess-qu-el" and others "sequel." So, decide which way you think most
people pronounce it and establish that at the beginning ("This chapter
describes how to connect an SQL ('ess-qu-el') server").
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Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with this
janiceg -at- marvin -dot- eng -dot- sun -dot- com | message is the return address.
"Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep."
-- Fran Lebowitz, _Metropolitan Life_
