VoIP - How DO You Say It?
September 1, 2010
VoIP. I don’t have a fixed way of saying it. So many people in the world pronounce it in so many different ways. But I personally have heard it only four ways:
1.vee-oh-eye-pee (It’s just like spelling it)
2. voyp (like in voice or void)
3. Voice over IP (that’s rather long)
4. Internet telephone (maybe that’s… evading acronyms)
There is no pronunciation that is more correct than the other as far as I can tell, since English is a language to which certain words are added or changed on popular demand. I’m not sure whether VoIP has entered the dictionary yet, but it is on Wikipedia online and you can jump right in and try it here…
‘Voyp’ (like in voice) and V.O.I.P (vee-oh-eye-pee like spelling it) are the most common pronunciations, but most of those who are not used to the technical term and who know the technology merely as one allowing to make phone calls over the Internet call it either ‘Internet Telephone’ or ‘Voice over the Internet’.
I myself am more at ease with vee-oh-eye-pee, like I say ess-kew-el (geeky people seem to pronounce it: see-quel for SQL). I like it maybe because it is more faithful to what the letters represent. But at times of quick blabbering on the phone to interested customers, I realize the importance of ‘voyp’ and ’see-quel’. So, for me, ‘voyp’ is quick and slang-like and ‘vee-oh-eye-pee’ is more ‘clean’ and formal language. But that’s only very subjective.
I feel that when an acronym gets a continuous pronunciation like a word (’voyp’), it is a sign of popularity and success. Don’t you think?
Did you know the following are pronounced thus?
EBCDIC - eb-cee-dik
WSDL - wiz-dull
WYSIWYG - wi-zee-wig
GUI - goo-ee
ASCII - ass-kee
So, get comfortable with ‘voyp’. Whichever way you say it, there still will be voice and IP in it!
The small ‘o’
Spelling VoIP is no big deal as it is an acronym of four letters. The only thing is that while the letters are in capital (like in all acronyms), the ‘o’ for ‘over’ is written in lower case. This is because it is a preposition, and you know how acronyms treat prepositions…
Back to pronunciation: I learned French in school, so now I have to sort out how to say VoIP in French… whether ‘vé-oh-ee-pé’ or ‘vwap’! I don’t think it will get popular…
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