I've not seen this discussed here, which is not to say it's never been, but just wondering what others think.

When writing a sentence that includes an acronym, should one use the indefinite article which matches the word being abbreviated or the letter representing the word? For example:

I had to fill out a FDA form.
vs.
I had to fill out an FDA form.

This is a problem only for letters that begin with vowel sounds.

I use a/an depending on the *sound, not on the letter.

thus, if you say FBI as eff-bee-eye (and who doesn't), say
an FBI agent. (of course, if you expand these sorts of acronyms you end up with 'a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent'.)

the silent h, which isn't very prevalent in Midwestern speech, presents a similar case. a historical event.. an 'istorical event.

When I was in school, the AN was preferred before a
letter with a vowel sound, such as F or L or even H.

The problem arises when you're not sure if it's read as letters or as a true acronym. An example is HID (human interface device, e.g., keyboard, mouse, or track ball). Is it read as 'hid' or aitch eye dee? When I run into one of these when copy-editing an engineering report I'll try to find and example where it doesn't have the indefinite article and ask an engineer to read it to me.

I will remember this. I am starting a new job that will involve a lot of copy editing. I am happy that I can continue to read awadtalk during work hours and still be "working". I HAVE to read it [innocent shrug]. It helps my work.

Excellent point, well taken.

That makes a lot of sense, and may prevent you from getting laughed at in the bargain. Case in point, a few years ago I was talking to a friend who is a programmer, and in the discussion I mentioned the URL, something not common in spoken conversation. I said "yurl", not "U-R-L", and he almost died laughing and falling over himself to point out that "nobody pronounces it". Who knew? Well, at least I didn't! I guess there was no room for individualism, either...

Oh, and did the engineer say "H-I-D"? I would guess s/he spelled it out.

When I first began using computer I said "yurl" as well, and
got a few raised eyebrows.

Funny. I would have pronounced it "earl".

earl IS the way I pronounce url.

Me too ... or three. (Hi buffalo.) But then I say "you are el"... but do allow for individualism just never heard it pronouned yoourl before.

just never heard it pronouned yoourl before.

I have heard the earl, yerl, and you are ell pronunciations before. I tend towards the third one myself, but have used the other two pronunciations myself, though jocularly.

Influence, myself, I suppose, by words like the planet
Uranus: YUR.

But what did the engineer say?

@Luke - Thanks for a little "defense" there! Precisely. Uranus (not mine), urinary, uranium, urinal.... Yes, there are examples of the "er" sounding of -ur, but then "earl" is a word, so it would be a bit confusing, imo, which is why I chose "yurl" when it came up in a conversation for the first time.

I really don't remember the first time I spoke URL, but I suspect I chose to spell it out, that being the 'safe' option.
-joe (but don't ask me about btfsplk) friday

Makes sense to me. For the same reason I chose YURL
as I really enjoy astronomy and the planet's name
just appeared.

Ah! That makes sense.

Funny how that works, just the first thing I thought of
and never actually gave it another thought until it came
up here on this thread of AWAD.

I think I need to pee.

And I didn't even include "urination".... ;0)

Make sure there's no cameras in the Pee-room.

I notice that all those examples of initial U being pronounced YU are examples of the form uCV___. Can you think of any examples of the form uCC___?

It's so funny that you ask that, because I was thinking about that very same thing, and I think not. The VCV pattern makes the U say it's name (sorry, that's my teacher explanation...), so following that logic, URL would start like "urge". But I guess it's maybe because U is pronounced "you", and since it starts that way, so I went in that direction. But it doesn't matter anyway, because I've spelled it out from then on!