How do YOU pronounce NES?

[Zap!]

If it's pronounceable, I say the word out. No one says out the letters for N.A.S.A. or I.H.O.P., so why do they say the letters for N.E.S.?

[buzz_n64]

If it's pronounceable, I say the word out. No one says out the letters for N.A.S.A. or I.H.O.P., so why do they say the letters for N.E.S.?

They do for most. F.B.I., A.T.M., D.E.A., A three acronym word is much more common to be simply spelled out, if it's longer than that, people tend to say it as a word or say it differently. The S.N.E.S. is called Super Nintendo by most people, not Sness, because it just sounds horrible.

If I'm explaining the N.E.S. to casual gamers, then occasionally I will refer to it as the original Nintendo.

[Zap!]

They do for most. F.B.I., A.T.M., D.E.A., A three acronym word is much more common to be simply spelled out, if it's longer than that, people tend to say it as a word or say it differently. The S.N.E.S. is called Super Nintendo by most people, not Sness, because it just sounds horrible.

If I'm explaining the N.E.S. to casual gamers, then occasionally I will refer to it as the original Nintendo.

FBI (Fibi?) and ATM (atom maybe?) aren't all that pronounceable. DEA is a little bit, but it's still two syllables with a big stress on the A. Nes is a nice clean word, and I see no reason not to say it out. Maybe it's just the crypto-zoologist in me that likes it. Reminds me of Loch Ness.

[Emperor Megas]

I say it like a word "ness". I don't understand why people would say N.E.S. Any time an acronym makes a pronouncable word, it's spoken as a word. The letters are only said individually if it isn't pronouncable as a word. Examples:

-FBI is not pronouncable as a word so it's said F.B.I.

-SCUBA is pronouncable as a word so it is spoken as such.

You ever known any one who was 'hiv' (rhymes with give) positive, or someone who works for the 'cia' (rhymes with Kia)?

[Zap!]

You ever known any one who was 'hiv' (rhymes with live) positive, or someone who works for the 'cia' (rhymes with Kia)?

Yet AIDS is said like a word. C.I.A. isn't said out because it doesn't sound right, and it goes along with F.B.I. and that's spelled out.

[Emperor Megas]

Yet AIDS is said like a word. C.I.A. isn't said out because it doesn't sound right, and it goes along with F.B.I. and that's spelled out.

Doesn't sound right? Then why is Black Entertainment Television called B.E.T. be, well, everyone who watches it? Does 'hiv' (sounds like give) also not sound right? Longer acronyms (4 letters+) that are pronounceable are generally spoken as words because it's easier to say and remember, but to claim that there's some de facto rule where acronyms are always said as a word if they're pronounceable is just flat out wrong.

[Zap!]

Doesn't sound right? Then why is Black Entertainment Television is called B.E.T. be, well, everyone who watches it? Does 'hiv' (sounds like give) also not sound right? Longer acronyms (4 letters+) that are pronounceable are generally spoken as words because it's easier to say and remember, but to claim that there's some de facto rule where acronyms are always said as a word if they're pronounceable is just flat out wrong.

So the unwritten rule is that if it's three letters of less, you say out the letters? OK, but it kind of defeats the purpose of abbreviating them in the first place. So HUD (head-up display), pronounced hudd (rhyming with mud) is unique then?

[MaxWar]

When I speak english I say N.E.S ans S.N.E.S

but when I speak French I say Ness and Super-Ness

Funny uh?

[MarioMania]

I call it N.E.S by the letter

I can't stand when they call the Genesis "a Sega"

[Emperor Megas]

So the unwritten rule is that if it's three letters of less, you say out the letters? OK, but it kind of defeats the purpose of abbreviating them in the first place. So HUD (head-up display), pronounced hudd (rhyming with mud) is unique then?

Not at all. People sad 'mad' (Mutually Assured Destruction), 'gooey' (Graphic User Interface), 'duey' (Driving While Intoxicated), 'vin' (Vehicle Identification Number), 'pin' (Personal Identification Number), 'sam' (Surface-to-Air Missle), etc..

[JSoup]

Not at all. People sad 'mad' (Mutually Assured Destruction), 'gooey' (Graphic User Interface), 'duey' (Driving While Intoxicated), 'vin' (Vehicle Identification Number), 'pin' (Personal Identification Number), 'sam' (Surface-to-Air Missle), etc..

It's probably a regional thing or something. I hear people say vin and pin all the time, but the others? Never, just say the words.

[ProjectCamaro]

The correct way.

[Zap!]

Not at all. People sad 'mad' (Mutually Assured Destruction), 'gooey' (Graphic User Interface), 'duey' (Driving While Intoxicated), 'vin' (Vehicle Identification Number), 'pin' (Personal Identification Number), 'sam' (Surface-to-Air Missle), etc..

I have never heard anyone in NY say "duey" for DWI. So basically there is no rule? Some words get said out and some don't, for no apparent reason?

[Emperor Megas]

I have never heard anyone in NY say "duey" for DWI. So basically there is no rule? Some words get said out and some don't, for no apparent reason?

I'm from New Orleans and hadn't heard anyone say 'duey' until I moved to the MidWest. Granted, I said DWI Driving While Intoxicated, but it's Driving Under the Influence (DUI).

[Crystalian]

That's probably a branch-off from the computer world. Some people pronounce G.U.I. as "gooey". When referring to a graphical user interface I would just say "interface" and assume that you understood what the heck I was talking about. If I felt compelled to use the acronym I would just say it by the letters, so it's a G-U-I just the same as driving drunk will get Y-O-U a D-U-I!

On the original topic though, I think it's time to retire N-E-S and go with something more modern a la Microsoft. Nintendo One anyone? Then we can argue about if it's the N-E-S box 1 or NESbox 1. which leads me to the way I like pronounce Microsoft's latest , ahem, "endeavour".

"The Nes-bone's connected to the X-bone..."

Here Fido, now fetch me an X-box One. No, NO!! I meant the "ORIGINAL X-BOX", not this new crap! BAD DOG!! Go bury the X-bone out in the back yard somewhere.

P.S. It always has been and always will be N-E-S, B-T-W!

[o.pwuaioc]

I've never heard "duey" or DUI (always D. U. I.) or "mad" for M.A.D. (but I've never heard it pronounced), but the rest of Emperor Megas' acronyms I heard.

Ultimately, like everything else in English, it's decided by usage, and there are no rules.

[MeTmKnice]

For the original nintendo I use N-E-S. For Super Nintendo I say "snes"

[otaku]

always done it by the letters and why would you any other way?

[rik1138]

That's probably a branch-off from the computer world. Some people pronounce G.U.I. as "gooey". When referring to a graphical user interface I would just say "interface" and assume that you understood what the heck I was talking about. If I felt compelled to use the acronym I would just say it by the letters, so it's a G-U-I just the same as driving drunk will get Y-O-U a D-U-I!

I've never heard DUI or DWI 'pronounced', ever... It's always D-U-I or D-W-I
But, I've always heard GUI pronounced gooey since the term was coined. Sure, these days you can just use interface, or U-I (actually, just U-I seems to be the norm now...). The 'Graphical' part is completely useless today as no one operates a computer by command line anymore (well, certainly no non-techies do). But in the early days of Win 3.1 and people trying to write DOS applications with a 'Windows/mouse' style interface, it was more meaningful as specifically graphical in design... Technically, all programs have a user interface (if you interact with it at all), but you wouldn't call the Infocom game interface 'GUI'.

For the original nintendo I use N-E-S. For Super Nintendo I say "snes"

This is me as well... The original is always an N-E-S ('nes' just sounds kind of silly)... But the other one is 'snes'. I never got used to saying S-N-E-S, but I have heard people call it that...