Is this the straight dope?
Does the standard pronunciation of “FAQ” trouble English speakers? It’s about as close. That said, I wouldn’t name my product Faq or Fug or anything similar for an English-speaking market.
I think it’s some sort of federally mandated law that any marketing textbook and/or story about a company working in foreign markets has to include the apocryphal “The Chevy Nova failed in Spanish-speaking countries since ‘no va’ means ‘no go’ in Spanish” story in it.
I like this quote found via Google News (link):
I thought I was worldly-wise, but clearly not…maybe somebody could guide this poor fool, and explain how to identify the ‘quebec area’, and exactly what genitalia I will encounter therein?
Duh! “male and female”!
I speak hebrew and know many other Hebrew speakers and it does not offend.
The Hebrew word for sexual intercourse is “zee-yoon”.
But FAQ is pronounced as the acronym. I don’t know of anyone who pronounces it as a word.
You really have never heard someone say “fac” or something like it, rather than “eff aye queue”? I find that rather astounding.
‘Acronym’ means pronounce it as a word. The word you’re looking for is ‘abbreviation’.
Huh. I’ve never heard anyone say “ef ay que,” only “fak.” Ever, since 1987.
IMHO thread: Just the F.A.Q.'s, ma’am (pronunciation)
Not offended. It doesn’t really sound similar – there’s no way that a Hebrew speaker will hear zoon and think Zee-yoon; there are simply too many extra vowels, and the root Z(OO)N has several other possible meanings (including “food” and “weapon”)
More likely a Hebrew speaker will not the similarity between “zoon” and “zoom”
also, -it isn’t as obscene in Hebrew as it seems.
The word that sounds sort of (but not exactly) like “Zune” is NOT the equivalent of the English “f-word”.
A better translation would be “to screw” or “get laid”.
So it’s not quite as obscene, even if I still wouldnt recommend using it in business.
But in any case, most Hebrew speakers wouldnt care.
What ISN’T a euphemism for some manner of genitalia or other, somewhere in the world? Won’t anyone think of the Richard Johnsons of the world? How about people named Wang? How about people named Dong? Etc…
I sometimes administer a test called the Woodcock-Johnson, and have worked on a psychiatric ward called the Johnson Unit.
What’s an FIQ?
No, it means “fuck” (the noun, to be specific). It’s just that Israelis aren’t that touchy when it comes to obscenities.
:D:D So, when may I expect a new keyboard from you? :D:D
FWIW, when iI read FAQ, I “hear” in my mind “fack” to rhyme with stack or quack
The name of the product discussed in this thread, to me, is pronounced “zoon” to rhyme with prune or soon.
I used to speak Hebrew (I can still read it at services but don’t ask me to translate) and I never heard that word as slang or a vulgarity, or even at all for that matter. But thanks for teaching me a new one! 
The British pronunciation of zune (zyoon) comes closer to the Hebrew “ziyoon”, so you never know.
Amos Oz describes brilliantly in his autobiography A Tale of Love and Darkness how as a young lad he attended a speech by Menachem Begin, and couldn’t keep a straight face when Begin spoke earnestly about having to ‘arm the nation’, clearly oblivious to the more common use of the word.
So, there isn’t a harsher or more derogatory term in Hebrew for “fuck”?