# If you're gonna use 'cute' misspellings, at least be phonetically appropriate, Edition II
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [May 11, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367 "2017-05-11T16:18:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/21 "2017-05-11T23:24:37Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#):
>
> Well, just to confuse things further, the combination of letters r-e-f-i would in fact NOT be pronounced “reffy” as the OP implies.
To be honest, as a native English speaker, “reffy” would be my first guess at “refi” if I had never seen or heard the word before. But there are no hard and fast rules for that combination of letters in those places. I’m probably subconsciously extrapolating from non-English origin words like “yeti” or “desi” or “peri” (as in Nando’s Peri-Peri) that are used in English. Or perhaps even words like “taxi” or “mini” where, while the first syllable isn’t an “e,” they’re both “short” vowels rather than their “long” vowel versions.
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### Author:  [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/22 "2017-05-12T02:07:56Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#):
>
> I’ve posted this link before, but here’s a good article that explains why mic is wrong, both historically and linguistically:
> [Mike, dammit!](http://www.sambayer.com/tirades/whymike.html)
Funny, I’ve the opposite experience from the article writer. I have worked in television / video / audio production for a long time and "mic has always been the way the folks in those businesses write the shorthand of “microphone”. It’s only been in the last 10 years or so that I’ve seen “mike” creep up on the interwebs.
It looks childish and silly. It looks as though you have no understanding of how professionals use the term. And maybe you don’t. But if so, when a professional tells you the proper term, use it. Cuz now you know.
You pronounce “micro” with a long ‘I’, right? Does it really take an"ro" to make the letters “mic” have a long ‘I’?
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### Author:  [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/23 "2017-05-12T02:19:56Z")
(to late for edit):
**"Mic"** is jargon, ok? It’s \*\*mic \*\*because that’s the spelling people usually use. Just like everything else involving the English language that the non-prescriptivists always tell us is correct simply because that’s what people write/say.
If **“I could care less”** and **“literally”** can mean the opposite of their real meanings then you can certainly deal with **“mic”**.
I hope I’m not **LOOSING** anybody here… 😛
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/24 "2017-05-12T03:55:26Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> Funny, I’ve the opposite experience from the article writer. I have worked in television / video / audio production for a long time and "mic has always been the way the folks in those businesses write the shorthand of “microphone”. It’s only been in the last 10 years or so that I’ve seen “mike” creep up on the interwebs.
>
> It looks childish and silly. It looks as though you have no understanding of how professionals use the term. And maybe you don’t. But if so, when a professional tells you the proper term, use it. Cuz now you know.
>
> You pronounce “micro” with a long ‘I’, right? Does it really take an"ro" to make the letters “mic” have a long ‘I’?
It’s been longer than ten years that “mike” has been an abbreviation for microphone. I’ve seen it used in print all my life, nearly 60 years on this planet. It’s “mic” that looks out of place to me and brings me up short. Of course, not being in the business, I obviously can’t be expected to be on top of the “proper” jargon. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/25 "2017-05-12T04:11:29Z")
I’ve pretty much always known it as “mic,” myself. “Mike” looks odd to me for some reason (although I do see it around. Always throws me off, though.)
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/26 "2017-05-12T13:04:13Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> (to late for edit):
>
> **“Mic”** is jargon, ok? It’s \*\*mic \*\*because that’s the spelling people usually use. Just like everything else involving the English language that the non-prescriptivists always tell us is correct simply because that’s what people write/say.
>
> If **“I could care less”** and **“literally”** can mean the opposite of their real meanings then you can certainly deal with **“mic”**.
>
> I hope I’m not **LOOSING** anybody here… 😛
Yes, it’s jargon. That’s the point. Jargon belongs to insiders. It doesn’t trump general usage. If you’re an insider, feel free to use jargony “mic” with other insiders. But out in the wide world, it’s “mike.”
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/27 "2017-05-12T13:55:05Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> Yes, it’s jargon. That’s the point. Jargon belongs to insiders. It doesn’t trump general usage. If you’re an insider, feel free to use jargony “mic” with other insiders. But out in the wide world, it’s “mike.”
I’m not entirely convinced it’s completely jargon, though. I don’t deal with music insiders for the most part, and the way I see the word spelled is mic, as in the great Beastie Boys song “Pass the Mic.” The phrase “mic drop” I’ve _only_ ever seen spelled that way. If it’s a jargon spelling, it’s one that’s made its way into the wide world.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/28 "2017-05-12T15:25:32Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> …It’s \*\*mic \*\*because that’s the spelling people usually use. Just like everything else involving the English language that the non-prescriptivists always tell us is correct simply because that’s what people write/say…
In this case, I think a descriptivist would say that there are certainly two prevalent variant abbreviations, **mic** and **mike**. One variant preserves the spelling of the original word, and therefore as a standalone word has an irregular pronunciation; the other variant changes the spelling of the original word to give the shortened word a regular pronunciation. There are simply no objective criteria to claim that either approach is “better”.
The descriptivist would then scratch his head at how much energy and bile stupid people who don’t understand much about the dynamics of language are prepared to expend insisting that one of these is _just more logical_ and _supported by history_, and how the other one is _obviously wrong_ and will lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it unless it is stamped out.
Again, 8000 words over 15 years? Jeebus.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/29 "2017-05-12T15:32:30Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> …I’m with the OP in that the abbreviation is **idiotic** and unnecessary. It’s an attempt to be cutesy that just comes across as **a lazy and unprofessional use of language** …
[my bold]
I see that you’re taking your usual generous and reflective approach to expressing your personal stylistic preferences in language.
And if you get pushback in kind, no doubt you will as usual express your shock and indignation that somebody could be so _rude_, and plead for a higher level of discourse?
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/30 "2017-05-12T20:03:39Z")
As an avid bicyclist, it annoys me that motorcyclists have practically taken ownership of the word ‘bike’ which shares no more than a silent ‘e’ with ‘motorcycle.’
But that’s life. Over the long haul, language is what people make of it; there’s no governing body to say, “this new spelling/usage/whatever meets our standards, but that one doesn’t.”
And on the whole, that’s the way it should be. So I can’t complain too much when I don’t like one of those apparently lasting changes.
Anyway, ‘refi’ and ‘mic’ have been out there for awhile now; my wife and I refi’d our home back in 2003, and it was a refi back then. And who’s ever seen ‘mike drop’? I’m not exactly hip (when you’re 63, nobody’s expecting you to be :)) but sheesh, even I’ve absorbed that much culcha. Honestly, I think it’s been well over a decade since I’ve seen ‘microphone’ shortened to ‘mike’ in _any_ context.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/31 "2017-05-12T20:07:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> It’s been longer than ten years that “mike” has been an abbreviation for microphone. I’ve seen it used in print all my life, nearly 60 years on this planet. It’s “mic” that looks out of place to me and brings me up short. Of course, not being in the business, I obviously can’t be expected to be on top of the “proper” jargon. :dubious:
‘Mike’ was certainly the norm - probably even the exclusive abbreviation for ‘microphone’ - when we were younger. But like I said, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it in any context. As best as I can tell, it’s fading from the language.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/32 "2017-05-12T22:39:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> ‘Mike’ was certainly the norm - probably even the exclusive abbreviation for ‘microphone’ - when we were younger. But like I said, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it in any context. As best as I can tell, it’s fading from the language.
It’ll always be “mike” to me. When I see the word “mic,” it looks phonetically to my mind like “mick.” It doesn’t look as if it sounds like the first syllable of “microphone,” and I always have to pause and think about it. I have no problem with “mike,” which to my mind looks phonetically appropriate, as the thread title says.
And yes, I concede that “mike” is one of those “cute” misspellings.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/33 "2017-05-13T01:50:34Z")
> [@Riemann](#):
>
> [my bold]
>
> I see that you’re taking your usual generous and reflective approach to expressing your personal stylistic preferences in language.
>
> And if you get pushback in kind, no doubt you will as usual express your shock and indignation that somebody could be so _rude_, and plead for a higher level of discourse?
Says the guy who [just made a pontification](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20200232&postcount=16) about “prescriptivist idiocy” and somebody “pulling a [linguistic] rule out of [their] backside” (Oh, and “[stupid people who don’t understand much about the dynamics of language](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20202259&postcount=28)”)! You seem to demand the kind of “generous and reflective approach” of others that you are entirely incapable of yourself. You are also, once again, the only one offended by my comments and the only one to explode in hostility over them.
The reality is that I’ve dealt with major financial institutions all my life and I have never once heard a cutesy term like “refi” or any other such pointless colloquialisms. It is indeed lazy and unprofessional and that’s why real banks never use it, but douchebag spammers do. It’s unfortunate that you’re so hypersensitive about your descriptivist religion that you don’t realize that I was attacking a bottom-feeding spammer who sounds like he’s maybe one notch above the Nigerian-prince scam, and deserves all the scorn he’s getting
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/34 "2017-05-13T01:57:44Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> It’s been longer than ten years that “mike” has been an abbreviation for microphone. I’ve seen it used in print all my life, nearly 60 years on this planet. It’s “mic” that looks out of place to me and brings me up short. Of course, not being in the business, I obviously can’t be expected to be on top of the “proper” jargon. :dubious:
I’m fine with either one in casual usage. What makes “mic” acceptable is its ubiquity as a label on microphone input jacks.
---
### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/35 "2017-05-13T02:18:10Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> …descriptivist religion…
That would be linguistics, then?
I do indeed take a generous and reflective approach to _language_, as do all descriptivists/linguists. You are unable to distinguish between the intolerant bile of aggressive prescriptivists such as yourself, and pushback _against_ your intolerance. When you or other prescriptivists call people idiots for the way they speak or write, I may well call _you_ out in robust terms (especially in the Pit), since your condemnations are based on misconceived notions of how language works. But there isn’t the symmetry there that you suppose.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/36 "2017-05-13T03:53:24Z")
> [@Riemann](#):
>
> That would be linguistics, then?
>
> I do indeed take a generous and reflective approach to _language_, as do all descriptivists/linguists. You are unable to distinguish between the intolerant bile of aggressive prescriptivists such as yourself, and pushback _against_ your intolerance. When you or other prescriptivists call people idiots for the way they speak or write, I may well call _you_ out in robust terms (especially in the Pit), since your condemnations are based on misconceived notions of how language works. But there isn’t the symmetry there that you suppose.
Translation: “I am allowed to call people idiots and accuse them of pulling language rules out of their ass and just generally being stupid, but you’re not. That’s because I’m very smart and always correct in these matters, and you’re not.”
OK, whatever you say, pal. It’s actually rather delightful to watch your stunning obliviousness to your own breathtaking arrogance. Not to mention the gratuitous thread-shitting.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/37 "2017-05-13T04:13:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Translation…
Fighting Nazi oppression, grammar or otherwise, does not make you equivalent to a Nazi.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/38 "2017-05-13T05:10:31Z")
Of course I’m an arrogant prescriptivist. I make no pretense otherwise. Some things are just wrong and their wrongness just leaps out at you and grabs you by the throat 🙂
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/39 "2017-05-13T18:31:57Z")
Refi has been used like that before (or at least in addition to) email spam, and is commonly used in all kinds of marketing and regular conversation. Seems like an odd target.
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-youre-gonna-use-cute-misspellings-at-least-be-phonetically-appropriate-edition-ii/786367/40 "2017-05-13T18:34:34Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#):
>
> Funny, I’ve the opposite experience from the article writer. I have worked in television / video / audio production for a long time and "mic has always been the way the folks in those businesses write the shorthand of “microphone”. It’s only been in the last 10 years or so that I’ve seen “mike” creep up on the interwebs.
>
> It looks childish and silly. It looks as though you have no understanding of how professionals use the term. And maybe you don’t. But if so, when a professional tells you the proper term, use it. Cuz now you know.
>
> You pronounce “micro” with a long ‘I’, right? Does it really take an"ro" to make the letters “mic” have a long ‘I’?
That’s what I’ve always thought as a fan of music, having no experience as a professional in any way related to the industry. People rock the “mic,” not a guy named Mike.
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