# How do you say "FAQ"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 25, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086 "2011-11-25T21:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/41 "2011-11-27T03:46:40Z")
I say all three words. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/42 "2011-11-27T03:48:19Z")
> [@Monkey\_Chews](#): > > In my head I say Fack but on the rare occasion I say it out loud I always say “F-A-Q”. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/43 "2011-11-28T03:37:03Z")
I just posted an essay about this in the “WHO” thread, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14505675&postcount=25). My ideas, in summary: An acronym (or initialism) works best when pronounced as a word, providing these conditions are met: 1. It is easily pronounceable as a word (or at least can be contrived to be, as someone else has noted with the pronunciation of FNMA as Fannie Mae or SQL as sequel). 2. _All letters in the acronym are voiced in the pronounced word._ WHO, for example, fails this test because the W is silent when pronounced as “who”. FAQ sort-of-fails this test because nobody is quite sure how the final Q should be pronounced so it sounds like Q. 3. Helpful if the word has two or more syllables. WHO and FAQ fail this test too, as does UPS. RADAR, AWACS, and OPEC (ETA: and even WYSIWYG) pass all these tests, and thus work very well when pronounced as words. I say SQL as “sequel” (or occasionally “squill”), and MySQL is “My Sequel”, purists be damned, because it passes all MY ideas in the above rules. Still not sure how to say PostgreSQL though. (ETA: I tend to say it something like Post-Gress-Quell.) ETA: And what about ETA? I think that’s best pronounced as the separate letters. Why? I guess it helps if the acronym is mostly consonants. Those that are mostly vowels seem to sound less distinct when pronounced as a word. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/44 "2011-11-28T05:25:14Z")
Almost always as F-A-Q except for gamefaqs which I pronounce as game-facts. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Bobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@King\_Bobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Bobo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/45 "2011-11-28T07:06:19Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Not weird at all, since I always assumed it was a cute synonym for “facts” (as in, facts about game X or movie Y), I’ve always said it your way. Thanks, now I feel a little less weird. PS. How you doin’ friend of mine? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/46 "2011-11-28T07:11:07Z")
138 posters take crazy pills. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/47 "2011-11-28T08:14:50Z")
Like a word, but I don’t think I’ve ever said it in the singular, always as FAQs. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/48 "2011-11-28T19:57:45Z")
I find myself using both. The same with SQL. Sometimes I say Ess Queue Ell, sometimes I say Sequel. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/49 "2011-11-28T21:05:01Z")
I will say the letters or say each word… Pet peeve is people saying a-sap instead of a-s-a-p… ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/50 "2011-11-28T21:33:07Z")
Neither. In my head it’s “Fack” but I always say “Frequently Asked Questions” aloud. I always think it’s funny that you find facts under the “fack” section but I’m easily entertained. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/51 "2011-11-29T11:45:50Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > Neither. > > In my head it’s “Fack” but I always say “Frequently Asked Questions” aloud. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/52 "2011-11-29T20:38:17Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > 1. _All letters in the acronym are voiced in the pronounced word._ WHO, for example, fails this test because the W is silent when pronounced as “who”. **FAQ sort-of-fails this test because nobody is quite sure how the final Q should be pronounced so it sounds like Q.** I don’t understand what you mean here. Are you saying a word ending in “aq”, like Iraq, has an ambiguous pronunciation at the end? How else would you say it? If you mean there could be multiple ways to say that hard K sound, then you later examples of OPEC and AWACS fail that as well, and those don’t confuse anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/53 "2011-11-29T23:42:14Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I don’t understand what you mean here. Are you saying a word ending in “aq”, like Iraq, has an ambiguous pronunciation at the end? How else would you say it? > > If you mean there could be multiple ways to say that hard K sound, then you later examples of OPEC and AWACS fail that as well, and those don’t confuse anyone. No, the other way around. The pronunciation is clear, but the spelling (given the pronunciation) is ambiguous. Anyone hearing “fack” will, I think, more readily visualize it spelled with a C or K than a Q (because we aren’t accustomed to imagining a Q without a U after it). Granted, OPEC and AWACS could be visualized with a K instead of a C, but nobody would think it Q. Notice, BTW, I said FAQ “sort-of fails” that test. OTOH, pronouncing WHO as the word “who” fails worse because the W is lost completely. And does anybody pronounce OTOH as a word, where the H would be totally lost? ETA: Okay, people fill in some vowels to get “Fannie Mae” from FNMA and “Sequel” from SQL. But how would you pronounce BTW? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/54 "2011-11-30T00:08:19Z")
Just as a note, and it may well speak to the level of nerdiness of who I hang out with, but I’ve NEVER, not ONCE, had anyone not understand what I meant when I said “FAQ” as “fack.” ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/55 "2011-11-30T13:45:15Z")
I say “fock” ---
**Author:** ![Erny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@Erny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erny)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/56 "2011-12-02T03:40:11Z")
I’ve recently started thinking fah - Q :p:p:p But if I were to say it out loud, I would say the whole thing: “Frequently Asked Questions” ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/57 "2011-12-02T22:30:29Z")
It depends on how internet-savvy the person I’m talking to is. If I think they’ll get it, I say “fack.” If I think they won’t (like my boss, for instance), it’s F-A-Q. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086/58 "2011-12-03T02:47:42Z")
“FACK” is my preference. Back when Spinal Tap had their website up, they had Frequently Unasked Questions…the line between stupid and clever gets thinner all the time…😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say-faq/604086.md?page=2)