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Public Service Announcement for Engineers

A pronunciation guide for new engineers. ACL is A-C-L, SQL is not sequel, and CUCIMOC can stay Cookie-Mock. Violators will have their souls reaped.

Tony Mattke · 2011.03.14 · 2 min read

We all know how stressful our jobs can be. And we certainly know about our own hot button issues that press on the nerves in our brain, resulting in great pain and agony which in turn makes us want to reap the souls of our minions…. Right? Ok, maybe its just me. But I digress, for those new engineers out there who lack experience with these terms, please consider the following as a guide*.

  • ACL: Pronounced exactly as it’s spelled, A-C-L. Stop saying Ackel!
  • QoS: Pronounced as spelled, Q-O-S. It is not kwos!!
  • GRE: Can be pronounced as spelled, G-R-E, or as a single world Gree as in agree minus the A.
  • IS-IS: Pronounced as spelled.. I-S-I-S, not eye-sys, or ice-is.
  • EIGRP: Pronounced as spelled.. E-I-G-R-P. Don’t try to pronounce this as Eeegurp or some other awful thing.
  • NAT: Pronounced as written, Nat, like the bug (gnat).
  • VRF: Pronounced as spelled, V-R-F, not vruff, or verf.
  • BPDU: Pronounced as spelled, B-P-D-U, not bippy-du or bippidy-du.
  • CUCM: Can be pronounced as spelled, C-U-C-M, or simply stated as Call Manager, not chuck-em, or even key-youk-em.
  • CUCIMOC: Feel free to continue using Cookie-Mock.
  • SQL: Pronounced as spelled, S-Q-L, there is no sequel or worse, squeal.
  • BIND: Pronounced as written.. Bind, exactly as the English word, as in to tie something up.

* This guide is to be followed at all times, failure to do so will result in instant reaping of your soul.

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Comments

18 archived comments from Disqus 2011–2012
networkjanitor

The only one I might argue with is QoS… I still say “kwos” at times. Given that I say I-S-I-S and A-C-L, it falls on me to be somewhat consistant ;)

Kurt (@networkjanitor)

DGentry
SCSI: “Scuzzy,” or “Sexy”?
Ethan Banks
Good friend of mine pronounced EIGRP “E-grip”. Drove me bonkers at first…but then I started saying it myself. DOH!
Tony
I really hope I don’t start up with ACKel — some engineer’s here use that and it drives me mad!!
Ben
Don’t forget PACKel and VACKel.
Etherealmind

I disagree with Ackel, Kwoss ( you spelt it wrong), and seqwell. I hate spelling out acronyms, if I did that my tongue would wear out.

And with Ackel - don’t forgot vackel (VACL) rackell (RACL) and qwackel (Qos ACL).

But other than that, as you were.

Julien Goodwin
You also still speak with an Aussie accent, as a real Aussie I mostly agree with you, although GRE is spelled, SQL is sequel (much to the sadness of classic IBM DBMS hackers)
mcnut

As is standard for any internet post pedantry calling for standardization, I will fulfill the role of the replay that requests using the already accepted standardization(s) of the english language:

“Nat”, the bug is spelled Gnat.

“This guide is to be follow at all times” – Intentional internet meme-ism or accidently the whole english?

Matthew Norwood
Why do you pronounce NAT and BIND as words and all the others using each letter? Is there an IT council somewhere that produces the “Strunk & White’s Elements of Style” equivalent? Or, should I just come to this post with the hopes that you will update it? Just trying to stay within the graces of the IT overlords. ;)
Pseudocyber
For IS-IS, I think it’s kind of cool to pronounce it eye sys - as in the Egyptian Deity.
Jochen
Someone told me that his colleague pronounces VRF as Worf. Guessed right, he is a StarTrek fan ;-)
darkcor3
TCL, tickle ? :)
Aaron Conaway
Absolutely correct. :)
windexh8er
I’m going to have to disagree with VRF - other than that the ones that bug me the most are people pronouncing ‘ackel’ and ‘sequel’. Like dragging your teeth across the concrete driveway (yes worse than nails on a chalkboard).
Ezra
Funny…. Good, I didn’t do it badly so far
Kris

I have met a few competent CCIE’s and JNSE’s that use “kwoz” and “ackel”. Working for a Danish company, they say “rooter”, which sends chills the spine, but they are ESL.

As engineers, part of our work is optimization, and sometimes this spills over into language. “Kwoz” flows into conversation much easier and faster.

michal
Realy like that post :-) I used to be surprised when people say ‘veerfs’ or ‘ackels’ even talking about configs from different vendors , sometimes just too much of that cisco slang . And yes , just interesting to heard the same acronyms when pronounced in different languages , sometimes very funny.
Ed
I’d also add URLs: it’s U-R-L, not earls…