# Obgyn **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053 "2009-01-26T15:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/1 "2009-01-26T15:02:57Z")
I was half watching an old episode of Diagnosis Murder (I know, but I have a bad cold and couldn’t be bothered to even reach for the remote :(). One of the characters was asking for an O.B.G.Y.N, i.e. every letter pronounced separately and it sounds rather awkward to my ears. Is this the norm in the US? I have little experience of Obstetrics or Gynaecology, not having the requisite body parts to require it, but I have heard it referred to as Obs & Gynie in the UK. In my experience it is unusual for a profession to use an abbreviation which is so awkward in the mouth. Is there some way of pronouncing OBGYN which the actress was unaware of? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/2 "2009-01-26T15:05:27Z")
I hear “O B Gin” most, but sometimes hear “O B Gee Why N”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/3 "2009-01-26T15:07:07Z")
In my experience, most people sound out each letter including the doctors themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/4 "2009-01-26T15:13:06Z")
Ditto what Shagnasty said. But I have no idea why it is so common (in the US). Granted that these 5 letters are just 5 syllables (much shorter than the 9 syllables of the entire words) but there are so many other ways to say it, that I would love to know why such a long abbreviation (which includes one or two vowels) doesn’t have its own pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/5 "2009-01-26T15:29:37Z")
Concurring that O-B-G-Y-N is about universal in the U.S. And since the medical profession abbreviates everything else, it certainly is the odd one out. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/6 "2009-01-26T15:31:47Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Ditto what Shagnasty said. > > But I have no idea why it is so common (in the US). Granted that these 5 letters are just 5 syllables (much shorter than the 9 syllables of the entire words) but there are so many other ways to say it, that I would love to know why such a long abbreviation (which includes one or two vowels) doesn’t have its own pronunciation. Probably because the two words never really had an abbreviation. Obstetricians were called O.B.'s and the only abbreviation for gynecologist I’ve ever heard was “gyno” – a name the doctors themselves despised. Most of the women I know refer to their doctor by the subspecialty for which they first were treated. Those who first hookled up with the doctor for maternity care call them “O.B” while those who were treated for other things call them gynecologist, gyno, Gee Why En or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/7 "2009-01-26T16:20:18Z")
I worked for an OB/GYN clinic briefly. Never anything but O-B-G-Y-N. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/8 "2009-01-26T16:29:50Z")
I hear O-B gyn and O-B-G-Y-N pretty much interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/9 "2009-01-26T16:31:28Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Ditto what Shagnasty said. > > But I have no idea why it is so common (in the US). Granted that these 5 letters are just 5 syllables (much shorter than the 9 syllables of the entire words) but there are so many other ways to say it, that I would love to know why such a long abbreviation (which includes one or two vowels) doesn’t have its own pronunciation. I work in a medical center, and usually hear (and say) O-B-G-Y-N; I think part of it is writing it that way so much, you start saying it that way too. I know that “GSW” is the abbreviation for “gunshot wound”, typically used in the ER, and some people even say it as “G-S-W” which is longer than the actual words. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obgyn/483053/10 "2009-01-26T17:27:43Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Concurring that O-B-G-Y-N is about universal in the U.S. And since the medical profession abbreviates everything else, it certainly is the odd one out. Uh. “O.B.G.Y.N.” _is_ an abbreviation. It stands for obstetrician/gynaecologist or obstetrics/gynaecology. So how is it “the odd one out”?