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Is it "an RTS" or "a RTS" ? (kbin.social)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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R is a consonant (indicating "a") but also if you say the word R it starts with a vowel (indicating "an")

both look wrong :(

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[–] MD756 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

As a gamer, I’m going to assume RTS stands for Real-Time Strategy. I read somewhere a long time ago that just because a term is in the form of an acronym, that doesn’t change what comes before it. So in this case, it’s proper to use ‘a’ rather than ‘an.’ However, I acknowledge that saying ‘a RTS’ sounds icky, so I tend to use the “incorrect,” ‘an RTS.’

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I read somewhere a long time ago that just because a term is in the form of an acronym, that doesn’t change what comes before it.

I was taught this as well, but unfortunately I think you and I were misled.
Still, they both sound "icky" to me, ha.

[–] j4k3 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'd rather see the vowel/consonant arbitrary rule rather than the subjective 'what does pronunciation sound like.' Ultimately, written language rules are determined by the consensus of use, not the other way around. In 1k years, the pronunciation will be obscured while the rule will be deterministic and obvious.