# Removing syllables (W="Dub" and HTTP="HTP") **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275 "2017-09-13T21:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/1 "2017-09-13T21:08:53Z")
I’m doing a course on Pluralsight about WCF (a Microsoft platform for connected services). The teacher/presenter has this annoying habit of shortening “W” to “dub”, and “HTTP” to “HTP”. So this sentence: “WCF also supports SOAP over HTTP.” will come out as: “Dub C F also supports soap over H T P.” At first I was listening to the course at 150% speed, so I figured it was a speed thing. But no, even at normal speed, he does this. Shouldn’t he at least give some up-front warning that he speaks funny, especially in a training context? Or are these usual contractions in English tech speech? ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/2 "2017-09-13T22:08:38Z")
I’ve quite often heard “www” pronounced as “dub dub dub”. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/3 "2017-09-13T23:08:56Z")
The radio station where I used to work had a big sign above the mic that read, “There is an L in double-you!” Hearing it said any other way grates on my ears, unless you’re talking about Bush the Younger. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/4 "2017-09-14T04:34:02Z")
If I’m counting things in a rhythm, I’ll usually shorten ‘seven’ to ‘sev’. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/5 "2017-09-14T13:10:46Z")
Abbreviating the letter W as “dub” is not new, by any means, at least not in the computing community. Some years ago, there was a computer and video gaming show that I used to watch, on an obscure TV network called G4. Anyway, one of the hosts was named Tina Wood. She always used the nickname “T-Dub.” It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that this nickname was derived from her initials. Tina Wood. T.W. T-Dub. A bit of Googling tells me that that show ended in 2005. So this abbreviation is at least 12 years old, and probably older. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/6 "2017-09-14T14:21:15Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’ve quite often heard “www” pronounced as “dub dub dub”. I assume this comes from the fact that “w”, one letter, takes three syllables to pronounce. “WWW” is nine syllables to say, which is kind of ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/7 "2017-09-14T18:39:27Z")
Yeah. I also say “dub dub dub”. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/8 "2017-09-14T18:58:00Z")
I wonder how much ECW’s “E C Dub” chant made “dub” popular. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/9 "2017-09-14T18:59:32Z")
My father’s legal name was W. H. He went by Dub. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/removing-syllables-w-dub-and-http-htp/796275/10 "2017-09-14T19:01:48Z")
So do the Golden State Warriors. Go Dubs!