It's worth noting, though, that there are some writers/speakers who will precede words beginning with "h" with "an" instead of "a". I always assumed it depended on the pronunciation habits of the writer when I saw it.

For instance, "Thanks to an human act of kindness." I would write that with "a", not "an", but I wouldn't be shocked to come across it written that way. I would assume the writer pronounces "human" similar to "you+men", rather than (as I say it) "hew-men" with a hard h.

With acronyms, too, it's by pronunciation. "An HIV-like virus" ("an aitch..."), but "displayed in a HUD (heads-up display)" (because HUD is pronounced as a word rather than by its individual letters).

Yeah, one of my pet peeves is when people pronounce SQL as a word (sequel)... so you have to decide whether to write "a SQL server" or "an SQL server" depending on which way you say it. I seem to run into things like this a lot when writing about computer stuff.

As for the "h" one... "an historic event" seems to be the cliché example of that, and it seems that people tend to think that saying "an historic event" rather than "a historic event" is a bit pretentious. http://www.jimloy.com/language/historic.htm explains why.

phreadom wrote:Yeah, one of my pet peeves is when people pronounce SQL as a word (sequel)... so you have to decide whether to write "a SQL server" or "an SQL server" depending on which way you say it. I seem to run into things like this a lot when writing about computer stuff.....

Saying SQL as "sequel" seems to be an American English thing. In my experience in this country SQL (ess queue ell), which is the official pronunciation, is usually used. SEQUEL is actually the name of a predecessor of SQL. It is therefore usually an SQL server or an SQL query or an SQL statement.

An SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks "Can I join you?"

Don't complain to me that people kick you when you're down. It's your own fault for lying there

tuber97 wrote:Okay, I have never heard anybody say "ess-que-ell". I've always known it as "sequel". .....

I know Mircro$ofties like to use the term "Sequel Server" when actually talking about SQL Server but if SQL is pronounced CQL how is CQL (Common Query Language) pronounced? Or how about SMS, is that see-em-ess or maybe even see-em-see? Is an MC an em-ess?

As I posted above I had always assumed that saying "sequel" for SQL was an American English thing.

Don't complain to me that people kick you when you're down. It's your own fault for lying there

Even wanting to post here, several issues; the use of idioms/metaphors etc.And greatings ‘hallo, hello, bye, aloha, こにちは, goodmorning, namaste…’.Incorrect word order, the wrong negators in german.Topicless discussions.feeling obliged to talk to people.people pointing their face at me all the time.getting disturbed while looking for stuff in shops.