As a (former, thank goodness!) copy editor, this has been nagging at me: the abbreviation for “microphone” has always been “mike” (“he was miked,” “they used mikes,” etc.).
In the past few years, I have been seeing “mic” more and more often, which I cannot stand: it looks like it should be pronounced “mick,” and how does one use it? “He was miced?” “They used mics?” Yuck. I understand that “mic” is a literal shortening of the word “microphone,” but can anyone *younger *than I tell me how and why it’s starting to replace the old standby “mike?”
My dad, a stagehand for well over thirty years, says he’s only ever seen “mic” used. This might be because some stuff was labled fast and they didn’t have time to spell out “microphones” or even “mikes,” so they just used “mic.”
My boyfriend, a stagehand for over 15 years, corroborates his story. I think it might depend on the industry.
I was in “the show business” for years, and I’ve written about show people using old newspaper and magazine articles, and I’ve only seen “mike.” Your father’s abbreviation story makes sense: but I’ve only seen “mike” till recently.
If I saw ‘mike’ in this context, I’d have assumed it was an error, until now…
Speculation: is ‘mic’ not pretty much standard as an indication of inputs on electronic equipment? (It is on the minidisc player on the desk in front of me, anyway.) This could help explain its rise in popularity.
I didn’t know it was going to be quite so controversial when I brought it up, but when I asked about this (post #96 in this thread) it sparked quite a bit of discussion.
I share EVE’s confusion. “Mic,” under the rules of English, should be pronounced “Mick.” Like “Bic pen.” And “sic 'em.” And “Don’t be a dic.” I can’t think of any examples where, in a three-letter word, CVC = long V sound. (This is the TM’s chance to post long lists of 3-letter CVC/long V words to correct me, which is why I didn’t say there weren’t any, only that I can’t think of any.)
It is also my recollection that historically it was spelled “mike” to reflect the pronunciation, not “mic” to reflect the spelling. Only lately do I recall seeing “mic,” which makes me wince a little because I can’t help reading, “Is my Mick on?” “Turn up the volume on the Mick.”
I’ve never seen “mike” used at all, but then I’ve never seen it written in an abbreviated context. If you’re going through the trouble to write, why abbreviate? I think, though, that if I did see “mike” to mean microphone, it would jar me. That’s not saying I’m right to think that way; I just haven’t experience it.
For what it’s worth, though, it’s always been “mic” on electronic equipment as far as I can rememeber back to the 70’s – Radio Shack cassette recorders always had REM and MIC inputs on their sides, and one or both of these were used with my home computer back when the cassette was our means of data storage. Yeah, cassettes, uphill, both ways.
Mic as a label is quite right next to the input on a piece of electronic equipment. Used in a sentence, would “mic.” be proper…or would an abbreviation not be proper at all?
If I am pissed off, I am p.o.-ed? Would one be mic.-ed?
Hey, I brought this up in another thread a couple of months ago, and a bunch of audiophiles jumped all over me. The abbreviation was “Mic”, and always had been, and only ignorant civilians thought it ought to be “Mike”.
Good to see they’re treating Eve nicer.
I think it’s a little different when you’re talking about a label on a piece of equipment, because in that circumstance pronunciation is irrelevant; you don’t have (well, at least I don’t have) any conversational flow or narrative going on in your head or out loud.
For stuff you read though, that would be reviewed by a copy editor, “mic” is IMO just jarring because it should be pronounced “Mick.” So when I talk about seeing “mike” in this context, I mean in a story or news piece, not as a label on the back of a stereo. And I don’t have any cites, just a vague recollection; it’s not like it comes up that often.
But just as I can see that “mic” is indefensible from the pronunciation view, I can also see that “mike” is unacceptable from the spelling view, since there’s no “I” in “team” and no “K” in “microphone”. So I agree with BALTHISAR; if I were using it, I wouldn’t abbreviate it at all. Unless I was slapping labels on stereo parts, which seems unlikely.
As a former proofreader, I always understood the “correct” word to be “mike.” How on earth would you pronounce “miced,” “micing” or “mics”? You really need to have a “k” in there.
I think that’s probably it right there: journalists and writers gravitated to “mike” because it sounds like short for microphone, while professionals and such used what they actually use on the job. I always write out microphone, especially when it’s plural - I guess I hate both abbreviations.
I’ve seen it both ways. The pronunciation was definitely “mike,” but when I did college radio in the early 70s, it was always spelled “mic.” The OED confirms that “mike” was first. But the abbreviation “mic.” was probably used before it was spelled “mic” as a separate word.
Yes, the pronunciation isn’t logical, but so what? Look at words like “finger” (cf. “integer”) or margarine (a “g” followed by an “a” should be a hard “g” as in “garish,” right?) Pronunciation is based on usage, not logic.
I can’t think of any examples where, in a three-letter word, CVC = long V sound. (This is the TM’s chance to post long lists of 3-letter CVC/long V words to correct me, which is why I didn’t say there weren’t any, only that I can’t think of any.)
