I work with a company whose name is frequently reduced to an initialism (acronym). Let’s say the name is "Cool Computer Systems" (CCS). I am engaged in an ongoing, bloody battle with the marketing department, wherein they insist the following apostrophe use is correct: Buy CCS’ New Product. Reading that line brings visions of crying … Read more
When I was a kid, I was always taught to refer to years using BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini / year of our Lord). However, I somewhat regularly hear people referring to years as in the CE (Common Era) or BCE (Before the Common Era). Why do people use the latter terminology? For … Read more
In baseball, an RBI is a Run(s) batted in. So it’s already “plural”. So if I were to say, Paul Konerko had five RBIs. Is that correct, or should I say Paul Konerko had five RBI. Answer Yes, and it’s spelled without the periods, i.e. RBIs. See Wikipedia’s List of Major League Baseball Players with … Read more
FAQ stands for ‘Frequently asked questions’, with the plural being implicit in the acronym FAQ. But it is common to see the word ‘FAQs’ being used, which treat the word FAQ as an object in itself, and an s being added to its end in order to pluralize it. Which one is the correct usage … Read more
In writing authors’ initials in research papers (either in the author by-line or the bibliography), should there be a space between intials? R.P. Feynman R. P. Feynman What’s the preferred way of writing it? Answer The periods in the initials stand for truncations, so you would put a space after each one. I don’t think … Read more
I am reading a post about network, I don’t know what “POPs” mean here: Our big, global, managed DNS network — the one most of our customers use — is spread across six continents and 17 POPs (with some more on the way). Is that a region or something like that? Answer PoP in the … Read more
I came across an ISO, say ISO 12345:78, and wondered what is the way to pronunce it: For the ISO part, should I say… “ei” “es” “ou”? or “aiso”? For the 12345:78 part, should I say… “one” “two” “three” “four” “five” “colon” “seven” “eight”? or “twelve” “thirty-four” “five” “colon” “seventy-eigth”? or “twelve thousands, three hundred … Read more
How are i.e. and e.g. pronounced? Answer i.e. stands for id est (Latin), which means “that is“. You use it to link in a deeper explanation about something. Pronounce it “eye – ee”. e.g. stands for exempli gratia (also Latin), which means “for example“. You use it to link in an example of a more … Read more
For example, if I wanted to write the equivalent of There are many automated teller machines in this city. Would it be There are many ATMs in this city. or There are many ATM’s in this city. (could get confused with possessive form or contraction). or just There are many ATM in this city. (assuming … Read more
The acronym “SNS” (Social Networking Site) is made up of three English words, so it looks like it’s English. But is the acronym “SNS” (Social Networking Site) a “real” English acronym used in English by native speakers of English, or is it mainly used in English by native speakers of Japanese, and people from nearby … Read more
