FAQ or FAQ?

October 27, 2015 8:37 AM

You're talking to a coworker about developing a FAQ. In your conversations, do you say "fack" or do you spell out "eff a queue"?
posted by mudpuppie to Writing & Language (102 answers total)

Eff eh queue

Eh because I'm Canadian.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:38 AM on October 27, 2015 [16 favorites]

Eff Eh Kyoo ftw
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:39 AM on October 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

Fack, but I respond to either.

Also, jiff.
posted by Cosine at 8:39 AM on October 27, 2015 [7 favorites]

Fack.
posted by merejane at 8:39 AM on October 27, 2015

eff ah kyoo unless is the website gamefacks, since that's a word.
posted by lownote at 8:40 AM on October 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

FACK or "the questions page"
posted by poffin boffin at 8:42 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Fack all the way. But they are both valid.
posted by Carillon at 8:43 AM on October 27, 2015

"Just check the Fack."
"The wha?"
"The Eff Aay Queue."
"Oh! Thanks!"
posted by notyou at 8:43 AM on October 27, 2015 [35 favorites]

I usually say "Fack" and then realize that doesn't sound right for some reason and then I repeat "eff aye que."
posted by bondcliff at 8:44 AM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Fack!
posted by chainsofreedom at 8:45 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Wow. I've never heard anyone say fack! Amazing. I would say eff ay kyoo, and be confused by anything else, personally.
posted by three_red_balloons at 8:45 AM on October 27, 2015 [34 favorites]

Eff Ay Kyoo, because the plural of fack is facks and that still gets confused with fax in my office.
posted by kimberussell at 8:49 AM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

If you said 'fack,' I'd have thought you were trying (and failing) not to swear.

Eff ay queue.
posted by Tamanna at 8:49 AM on October 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

notyou's conversation is precisely what happens to me unless I catch myself and convert to eff-ay-queue in time. (I always say "fack" in my head when I read "FAQ," and always write "a FAQ" not "an FAQ".)
posted by wintersweet at 8:50 AM on October 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

FACK 4EVAR.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:50 AM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

It's an acronym, so you speak out the letters: F.A.Q.

The same way that people don't call A.T.M.s "atoms".
posted by blueberry at 8:51 AM on October 27, 2015 [11 favorites]

Yeah. If someone said "blah blah blah the facks page" it would sound like FAX page, and if someone referred to the "fack page" I think I would hear that as "fact" with a slight impediment. Never heard anyone say fack.
posted by peep at 8:51 AM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

I say "Fack" because I've always said "Fack" and I'm quite a bit older than you....
posted by Floydd at 8:53 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

FACK
posted by sandmanwv at 8:53 AM on October 27, 2015

Response by poster: It's an acronym, so you speak out the letters: F.A.Q. The same way that people don't call A.T.M.s "atoms".

But what do you call the numeric code you have to enter on the money machine in order to get your money?
posted by mudpuppie at 8:54 AM on October 27, 2015 [59 favorites]

Everybody in my office says "fack," but I've always said F-A-Q.
posted by General Malaise at 8:54 AM on October 27, 2015

It's an acronym, so you speak out the letters

Acronyms are exactly when you don't speak out the letters. Scuba, Radar, Laser, PIN, NIC, etc.
posted by bondcliff at 8:56 AM on October 27, 2015 [26 favorites]

as i write this (ignoring 7 new comments), the distribution of signup dates for Spelling or Word is

2000 W
2001
2002
2003
2004 W
2005 WW
2006
2007 SW
2008 SW
2009
2010
2011
2012 SSW
2013 SSW

(my hypothesis was that those who signed up earlier are more internet-savvy and tend to use the Word (Fack), while those who signed up later are less immersed in internet culture and spell it out - i think this is weakly confirmed, by eyeball)
posted by andrewcooke at 8:56 AM on October 27, 2015 [9 favorites]

It's an acronym, so you speak out the letters: F.A.Q.

This is actually the opposite of what the definition of acronym is. If it were an acronym, you'd say it as a word, "fack," whereas if it were an initialism, it would be the letters.
posted by General Malaise at 8:56 AM on October 27, 2015 [10 favorites]

I work in IT support. Notyou's conversation is true.

Directing someone to a Fack gets a "Say what?"
Directing someone to the Eff Ay Que gets a "Thanks!"

(I've also gotten "EXCUSE ME??" when I've said Fack.)
posted by jammy at 8:58 AM on October 27, 2015 [10 favorites]

I pronounce it as a word, but obviously the real take away is "it varies" which means you can do whichever you do when you're not thinking about which you do, and it's fine.
posted by aubilenon at 8:58 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I say F-A-Q, my partner says "fack." It seems like everyone understands my version even if it's not what they wound do, whereas he often has to repeat himself because someone didn't understand "fack." So if it's critical to be heard up front I'd spell it out.
posted by Stacey at 9:00 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

several recent comments have completely missed the point. this is a way to identify yourself as a member of the internet nerd elite and exclude lame-o spelling normies.
posted by andrewcooke at 9:03 AM on October 27, 2015 [7 favorites]

Another oldster voting for "Fack" here.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:05 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

2002, word.
posted by bonehead at 9:05 AM on October 27, 2015

I say fack.

You go to the page with the FAQs to find the facts about the site.

Facks.
posted by phunniemee at 9:07 AM on October 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

I mentally read it as "fack", but speak it as F-A-Q to avoid the conversations previously mentioned.
posted by noneuclidean at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

This Stack Exchange question from 2010 points out that you can track the two pronunciations in the Google ngram viewer by comparing "a FAQ" with "an FAQ".

Here's the current graph.
posted by zamboni at 9:11 AM on October 27, 2015 [14 favorites]

eff ay kyoo here, also.

"Fack"? wuhtuhfuh? (That was "WTF" in Fackworld, apparently.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:14 AM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Fack. Because when in plural (like FAQs), it's "facks", which sounds like "facts" which is what you find in an FAQ.

Same logic applies to the GIF debate. It's "jif," because the files are small and therefore can download in a "jiffy."

Respect the puns of our internet ancestors.
posted by sparklemotion at 9:15 AM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

"an faq" site:metafilter.com: about 185 results.
"a faq" site:metafilter.com: about 473 results.
posted by zamboni at 9:15 AM on October 27, 2015 [5 favorites]

I say and think "fack," and I don't think I've ever had any problems communicating using that (not that it comes up that often in spoken language for me). When I hear someone say "F-A-Q" it registers fine, but takes me an extra moment of processing and sounds slightly stilted. For cultural/generational context, I grew up in the 90's with FAQs being a regular source of useful information for my nerdy interests.
posted by biogeo at 9:15 AM on October 27, 2015

I pronounce it Frequently Asked Questions when I say it out loud, but I am an old guy. When I read it, I think F-A-Q.
posted by AugustWest at 9:17 AM on October 27, 2015 [6 favorites]

zamboni, that graph just blew my mind. There's an entire linguistics dissertation in that.
posted by biogeo at 9:19 AM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

I say "fack," while the one coworker who I've heard say it says "eff a queue." Everyone else tries to avoid saying it.

And I'm not using "FAQ" much anymore: I found that when I referred to the FAQ/knowledge base thingy at work that I am using to hold the vast majority of our website's actual information as "the FAQ service," I got pushback about how I intended to use the service, with people looking at individual bits of information and saying "Well, I don't think that's a frequently asked question as such. Shouldn't it be on the regular website?" and "I don't think that is appropriate for this service."

I stopped calling it the "FAQ service" and started referring to it by the brand name or as a knowledge base, and overnight those objections evaporated.
posted by telophase at 9:19 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Fack. ...You know, the Frequently Asked Questions page?"

Because I am apparently just as incapable of saying F-A-Q, as I am of ever realizing that saying the whole above takes significantly longer than just saying F-A-Q.

And that's a faq.
posted by Mchelly at 9:25 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I compromise and say Fack Queue.

Nah, seriously, I spell the letters out.

Asking this question has reminded me of how much search function has minimized this sort of thing, and when we have it, say at work, we tend to refer to the specific thing it's a reference on, i.e. "there's an article in Confluence on how to set those up"

FAQ tends to refer to a big bucket of questions...
posted by randomkeystrike at 9:26 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

"eff a queue" is the one true way, ignore the other fackers.
posted by billiebee at 9:32 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I say eff eh queue but my workplace also have a very well used acronym that can be pronounced Fack. So when people say that, I think of that first. I don't know anyone who says fack for FAQ.

FYI I also was a teen in 90s.
posted by Gor-ella at 9:34 AM on October 27, 2015

The thing is you want to stand a mile away from where someone mishears you for "fuck". That kind of does it for me, no matter usage in general . I say ef aeh cue.
posted by Namlit at 9:35 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

"eff eh cue" sounds much like "eh, fuck you" so you're FAQ'd either way.
posted by kindall at 9:42 AM on October 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

I and my coworker spell it out. We're web professionals, and also both about 30 years old.
posted by fifthpocket at 9:43 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

"fack" unless i'm making fun of something, then F.A.Q- the same way i'd say "ell oh ell"

i'm 34 and have been online since '94.
posted by nadawi at 9:44 AM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

I've heard and said them both, but at work we have a fax and a FACS and a FAQ and sometimes it's just too much facking for one set of ears.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:46 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Always tailor pronunciation to the audience. My buds in IT? "Fack." VP of business development? "Eff Ey Queue, the Frequently Asked Questions list."

Kind of like how the America's Next Top Model contestant with Asperger's Syndrome always said "awes-perjers" on television so she didn't sound like she was saying "ass-burgers" to millions of people.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:51 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've never heard anyone say Fack. I'm also a web professional in my 30s.

I also say S.Q.L not sequel. I hate it when people call it sequel.
posted by missmagenta at 9:51 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

> It's an acronym, so you speak out the letters: F.A.Q.

This is nonsense whether or not you have misunderstood the word "acronym." Pronunciation does not depend on spelling (I'll let the word "colonel" stand for a few zillion examples I could give); the pronunciation of a word depends entirely on how people say it, end of story. It is clear from this thread that a lot of people say "Fack" and a lot of people say "Eff Ey Queue"; I'm not sure how important it is to figure out exactly what the percentages are, the point is they're both acceptable, and anyone who says "The way I say it is correct and everybody else is wrong" is full of shit.

> Always tailor pronunciation to the audience.

This is, of course, excellent advice.
posted by languagehat at 9:56 AM on October 27, 2015 [12 favorites]

Fack, never even thought about saying Eff Ay Que, and surprised that anyone else spells it out.
posted by Emera Gratia at 9:58 AM on October 27, 2015

Eff ay queue, joined 2004.
posted by penguin pie at 10:04 AM on October 27, 2015

This is so interesting, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say Fack - I always spell it out and would probably be a little confused if the "word" way was used.
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:04 AM on October 27, 2015

Eff ay queue. Fack sounds really silly to me, and seems to be just too confusing (just asked my PhD-ing roommate, who responded "wait, like a northern European labour union?)
posted by troytroy at 10:15 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Pronunciation does not depend on spelling (I'll let the word "colonel" stand for a few zillion examples I could give); the pronunciation of a word depends entirely on how people say it, end of story.

There is a street in the LBC named "Ximeno," which, if one were to pronounce it somewhat close to its spelling and roots, it would sound like "Hee-May-Noh." But if you want any of the locals to understand, you've got to say it so it sounds like "Ex-Zem-In-Oh."
posted by notyou at 10:15 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Eff ay queue.
posted by sektah at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2015

eff ay queue. I would never call it a "fack" as that is WAY to easily misheard, especially when talking to clients over the phone.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 10:39 AM on October 27, 2015

Eff ay queue.
posted by bentley at 10:40 AM on October 27, 2015

Eff ay queue. I also have never heard someone say "fack" before.
posted by anya32 at 10:44 AM on October 27, 2015

Who the hell says 'fack,' this is blowing my mind!
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:49 AM on October 27, 2015

The only time I've heard "fack" is someone saying it in some sort of ironic/jokey fashion, usually followed by "I'll give you the earl."

(US web worker for 17+ years)
posted by sageleaf at 10:51 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Showbiz: you saw Zamboni's link right? Fack has been the standard for a loooooong time.
posted by Cosine at 11:09 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm a facker.
posted by MsMolly at 11:10 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Eff ay queue. I've heard fack before, but only rarely, and I spend most of my time around physicists and software engineers.
posted by Diagonalize at 11:16 AM on October 27, 2015

F-A-Q.

But I'd also use "a" FAQ so not sure what the latter comparison will show.
posted by Mitheral at 11:19 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

"Fack"? wuhtuhfuh? (That was "WTF" in Fackworld, apparently.)

Eff-eh-queue for me. I don't think I've ever even heard "fack" used before.

(I do say wuhtuhfuh though, at least in my head when I read it!)
posted by Kabanos at 11:35 AM on October 27, 2015

When I was a librarian, I usually said F A Q but now that I'm a software developer I think I say FACK, at least to my coworkers. I suspect I used to say FACK back in the olden times when I was a volunteer webmaster, before I got a job that involved explaining information resources to people. And I still say F A Q if I'm talking to people outside of work.

I'm an F.A.Q. code-switcher!
posted by mskyle at 11:42 AM on October 27, 2015

Fack, because when you advise someone to FAQ off, they gain enlightenment.
posted by scruss at 11:43 AM on October 27, 2015

FAQ is 'fack', GIF is hard-G 'gif'. SQL is 'Ess Kyoo Ell', but MySQL is 'my-sequel'. Always have been, always will be. #old
posted by hanov3r at 11:43 AM on October 27, 2015 [8 favorites]

In general, Eff-Ay-Queue.
posted by Urban Winter at 11:52 AM on October 27, 2015

I was so perplexed the first time someone said effaicuse that I actually had to ask them to spell it for me. That was earlier this year.
posted by rodlymight at 11:55 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

"FAQ" as a word for me, and I guess I'm on the "older" side (joined Mefi in '01 during AYBABTU-mania, have been "online" in some form or another since the late 80s).

"Check the FAQ" just rolls off the tongue.

Saying "Effaycue" takes almost as long as saying "Frequently Asked Question page".

I've generally associated "FAQ" with tech/geek types and "Effaycue" with non-tech/business types, if that makes any sense.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:56 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

letter f letter a letter q. The other thing sounds ridiculous to me.
posted by mermily at 12:03 PM on October 27, 2015

Old, fack. I even rhymed it with "back" in a song.
posted by dfan at 12:06 PM on October 27, 2015

I say FACK and I say GIF with a hard G sound, like gift without a t.
posted by tckma at 12:58 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is your opportunity to set standards. How do you want to say it? You either say it as one word or spell it out, as per your preference, and if your coworker tries to say it the other way or correct you give them the side-eye like they're some kind of rube, subtly elevating your own power and status while reinforcing your preferred pronounciation of this term.

Anyway in flesh conversations with analog humans I just say "frequently-asked questions" so they'll know precisely what the hell I'm talking about.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:08 PM on October 27, 2015

Eff Ay Cue because Fack is a Cockney swear word
posted by KateViolet at 1:53 PM on October 27, 2015

"Fack" in my head and often out loud (but "frequently asked questions page" if I want to be clear when I'm speaking). I have never said "eff a queue", and when my girlfriend does, it takes me a minute to understand what she's talking about.

On the other hand, I also pronounce the name of the standardized test I took before college "sat", so there's that.
posted by Vibrissa at 1:53 PM on October 27, 2015

> Showbiz: you saw Zamboni's link right? Fack has been the standard for a loooooong time.

But people truly seem to think that their personal usage (plus the extremely dubious idea that they've "never heard anybody say it that other way"—listen for it and trust me, you will) trumps, you know, facts.

I personally say "fack." I know people who say it both ways. Both are acceptable, or (if you insist) "correct." It's on point to give your own pronunciation, but please stop with the claims that other people are wrong.
posted by languagehat at 1:59 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

'Fack' to my colleagues who are technical. 'Eff ay cue' to clients, non-technical colleagues and anyone else.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:36 PM on October 27, 2015

I’ve never heard ‘fack’ in my life - I’d say eff ay cue. This is fascinating!
posted by badmoonrising at 2:41 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack for the win!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 2:49 PM on October 27, 2015

I'd say audience dependent. "Fack" in informal/technical settings, "Eff Ay Cue" in more formal settings, and "Frequently Asked Questions" or possibly even "Q&A" in non-technical settings.
posted by Aleyn at 3:27 PM on October 27, 2015

I say "fack" to everybody, including women with children. I wonder what that makes me...
posted by Promethea at 3:33 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack. Seems ridiculous to exert oneself to pronounce three syllables when one will do.
posted by HotToddy at 4:40 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack
posted by gt2 at 5:15 PM on October 27, 2015

I say the letters, and I'm on the younger/newer end. I've also never heard anyone say it as a word, ever, and it blows my mind that so many people do. I think my experience supports the age/internet-culture theory.
posted by R a c h e l at 5:44 PM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

When speaking out loud, I say "Frequently Asked Questions" for precisely this reason.
posted by danceswithlight at 5:50 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack! F-A-Q sounds so laborious.
posted by redfoxtail at 5:53 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack for the same reason I pronounce NASA /ˈnæs.ə/. It's a facking acronym, for fack's sake.
posted by bricoleur at 6:04 PM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Fack.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:30 PM on October 27, 2015

FAQ is 'fack', GIF is hard-G 'gif'. SQL is 'Ess Kyoo Ell', but MySQL is 'my-sequel'.
Somehow, hanov3r speaks the same dialect as me.
posted by yeolcoatl at 6:55 PM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

As others have noted, fack in my head and F-A-Q out loud/to others. I got screwed up regularly when my baby was born early and to go to the NICU, which I pronounced based on I-C-U until someone set me straight. (Nick-you sounded like a special college for preemies.)
posted by pepper bird at 8:15 PM on October 27, 2015

In my head I say it "fock", aloud I say "eff ay queue". I work in tech, but that means I talk to my coworkers through writing way more than I do out loud.
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:27 PM on October 27, 2015

f-a-q,30s, I thought fack was an under 25s thing but have been proven wrong by this thread.

I also say sequel instead of SQL.
posted by zutalors! at 10:33 PM on October 27, 2015

Fack all the way for me. I also say OS as a word, so iOS is eye-oss and OSX is oss-ex. In my head, WTF is wuh-tuff, but I wouldn't say it out loud - I'm not a monster.
posted by ZipRibbons at 12:41 AM on October 28, 2015

Fack, sequel, and choosy nerds choose Gif with a hard G, because images aren't peanut butter.

Here's one for the network nerds: remember Ethereal? (long since renamed Wireshark) How did you pronounce it?


e-thear-e-ull, like the word in English that it is, and not ever ether-real.
posted by namewithoutwords at 1:18 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Here's my extended reasoning: 90% of the time one has to mention the FAQ at all, it is in total exasperation.
So, "why don't you read the &/%&€ F . A . Q . ?" is a totally reasonable take on pronunciation.
posted by Namlit at 2:58 AM on October 28, 2015

@Namlit: Here's my extended reasoning: 90% of the time one has to mention the FAQ at all, it is in total exasperation.
So, "why don't you read the &/%&€ F . A . Q . ?" is a totally reasonable take on pronunciation.

...and that may be one of the distinctions right there.
If I'm casually saying "A new FAQ has been released for Arkham Horror's 30th expansion; have fun with it, rules lawyers!", it's pronounced as a word.

But if someone keeps asking the same question to me that I know is in such a document, to the point of making me upset, I might say "Did you check the EFF AYY CUE?", putting extra emphasis on the EFF to give them a hint that it stands for "Frequently".
posted by jozxyqk at 5:32 AM on October 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Eff aye queue. I don't recall ever having heard fack.

I joined MeFi in 2005 and I'm in my 60s. I'm not in a technical job, although I did do Unix sys admin back ages ago.
posted by jeri at 1:21 AM on October 30, 2015