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Hello to all, My question is, With the medical acronym (or should that be initialism) FSH (follicular stimulation hormone) should I say "She will have A (or AN) FSH level performed" Thanks, George
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Carpal Tunnel
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I don't know the rule that might apply, but my natural tendency would be to say "An FSH level." But I welcome your giving me a chance to reveal my ignorance.
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Welcome aBoard, George! If you're pronouncing "eff ess aitch," I think an is the right choice before the vowel sound. It's a pet peeve of mine to see "a" written before an abbreviation that begins with a consonant but is routinely pronounced with an initial vowel sound. It should be an FSH deficiency, but a BP reading. The key is in the pronouncing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I think it depends on how it is pronounced: a f(i)sh or
an eff-ess-aich
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old hand
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I would guess that the use of "an" came strictly through spoken English because it was too awkward to say "a apple". And in such situations "n" seems to be our letter of choice, as is shown in words like "tobacconist" as opposed to "tobacco-ist". Because of this tendency toward verbal ease, I would go with "an".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Daar tsuwm: I have never heard medical acronyms, or whatever the correct term is, pronounced as words. Of course, it is so long since I was in a hospital, the usage may well have changed. FSH would have been "eff- ess-aitch" and I doubt that it has changed.
P.S/ As shown below, things have indeed changed. But all of ones cited came after I retired. Still, I did know some of them, but didn't remember them. Time wounds all heels.
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Dr. Bill, I dig to beffer: I assume that a CAT scan is not actually a cursory inspection of a feline, but is the medical profession's pronunciation of the abbreviated form of Computed Tomography (CT) imaging, or Computed Axial Tomography (CAT).
As to your other point: may you long remain out of hospitals!
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Carpal Tunnel
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I agree with nancyk! And welcome to the Board, gmoore! 
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CAT scan is not actually a cursory inspection of a feline
A guy asks the vet to examine his dog which is just lying there. The vet says, "Look, I'm sorry but your dog is dead" "That can't be" says the owner, "I demand a second opinion". "Ok" says the vet and calls over his own Black Labrador and commands it to examine the dog. The Labrador sniffs all round and puts its paw on the paper with "DEAD" on it. "I demand a third opinion" says the owner. "OK" says the vet, and calls over this tabby, which in turn sniffs all over the dog and puts its paw on the paper with "DEAD" on it. "OK" says the owner. "I have to believe it. How much do I owe you?" "$250" says the vet. "How much? It's usually only 50 bucks even for big stuff". "Ah" says the vet "but Lab tests and Cat scans cost extra!"
Another one for the kids (I liked 7,8,9 by the way).
Rod
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More medical acronyms pronounced as words:
CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) = cabbage
TED (thrombo-embolic disease)
ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme)
And probably most wide-spread:
AIDS
I think I'll stop now.
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veteran
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There has long been a custom, with no well-defined rules that I know of, to use 'an' before a word beginning with H, as in, "an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens."
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enthusiast
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Nancyk is entirely right: in speech there is never any doubt (except with some H-initial words). We use "an" before vowel sounds.
The written form "a FSH" comes from either writing it without saying it mentally to realize it's wrong; or just using the abbreviation in writing but mentally saying "a finite state hypothesis" (or whatever it was).
On origin of "a" vs "an", the earlier form is "an" (related to "one"), and the N was lost before a consonant - rather than being added before a vowel. Same with "mine" and "thine", which gave rise to alternatives "my" and "thy" in the Middle English period, originally on purely phonetic grounds, then grammaticalized.
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grammaticalized
Please tell me I'm imagining this, Nicholas!
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Carpal Tunnel
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No, mav, you're not imagining it; you're imaginalizing it.
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Well, at least he's not grammaticking it. I'd hate to think that of maverick.
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Pooh-Bah
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I agree with "an FSH."
But my question is, do you use "a" or "an" preceding words that begin with "h"? Or is Charles Emerson Winchester III the only one who does that?
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old hand
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To me, the question of "a" or "an" before an "h" word comes down to whether the "h" is pronounced... He received an honorarium for spending a hot night in a hotel with a halibut, which he quickly squandered on an hors d'ouevre.Who said examples have to make any sense?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hi gmoore, welcome aBoard.
re your query : "an" if you pronounce the letters individually.
Oh, by the way, does it annoy anyone else when newscasters say things like (for example:) " The NTSB board ..." when the letters stand for National Transportation and Safety Board ?
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enthusiast
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I frequently encounter people refering to transfering files into PDF format (Portable Document Format format). BUt it does help with the comprehension to have that kind of redundancy (or clarification). Long live Monte Python's Department of Redundancy Department.
Brandon
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If the first syllable of a word with a pronounced h is stressed the proper article is a. Otherwise it is an.
Examples:
A) He wrote a history of World War Two.
2) They put on an historical re-enactment of the First Battle of Bull Run (Sorry, I couldn't spell Manassas)
Note: Application of this rule may vary from place to place. Please consult all pertinent state laws before attempting to follow this rule. The management takes no responsibility for mis(ab)use of this rule.
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Carpal Tunnel
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does it annoy anyone else
No.
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Pooh-Bah
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speaking of annoying anyone, why do folks employ white font color sometimes? I don't know about your monitors, but on mine it's a light gray background, and trying to read the white text on a gray background is enough to give me an heart attack... or is that a heart attack?
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old hand
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But my question is, do you use "a" or "an" preceding words that begin with "h"? Or is Charles Emerson Winchester III the only one who does that?An (!) explanation of this is at http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/ananda.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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...and trying to read the white text on a gray background is enough to give me an heart attack...
Drag your cursor across it to highlight it, Alex wink
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does it annoy anyone else
No.Speak for yourself, ol'chum.  As for me... No.  NTTAWWT
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so that would be pronounced "istorical"?
And in the vein of this thread ... thanks for the misclarificationalisation.
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My sincerest apologies for the very poor pun in the above post. I assure you it was most unintentional.
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