[net.micro.mac] SCSI pronunciation query

slj@mtung.UUCP (Steven Jones) (05/19/86)

I read that, as a rule, people in the Apple world tend to pronounce
SCSI as "sexy" while people in the IBM world say "scuzzy."  From
observation, it appears people in the AT&T world also say "scuzzy."

I think SEXY beats SCUZZY, but I don't want to fight an uphill
battle against a de-facto "standard."  My question is whether this
is in fact a standard (yet).

There are four categories 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B where 1=use "SCUZZY"
2=use "SEXY" and A=prefer "SCUZZY" B=prefer "SEXY."  Please send
me email telling me which of these categories you belong in, and
if your "use" and "prefer" choices aren't the same, please also
indicate whether you believe the "standard" is already too weighty
to oppose successfully.

As usual, if there is sufficient response, I will summarize the
responses and post to the net...  Thanks in advance.
-- 
Free Luna,           "This is my private life/I've got no
S. Luke Jones        friends to fear/I've got no problems/
...ihnp4!mtung!slj   No cross to bear/If you can find me/
                     Come and get me out of here."

gjb@unirot.UUCP (Greg Brail) (05/21/86)

In article <703@mtung.UUCP> slj@mtung.UUCP (Steven Jones) writes:
>I read that, as a rule, people in the Apple world tend to pronounce
>SCSI as "sexy" while people in the IBM world say "scuzzy."  From
>observation, it appears people in the AT&T world also say "scuzzy."

    Some of my friends and I (who are basically members of the Apple
world) pronounce it as "SKISS-ee." Does anyone else use this? I
admit this is rather trivial (no flames, please). However, I find
very little sex appeal in a peripheral inserface, and if it ever does
manage to become a standard, it can't possibly be that scuzzy. :-)

			-Greg

>-- 
>Free Luna,           "This is my private life/I've got no
>S. Luke Jones        friends to fear/I've got no problems/
>...ihnp4!mtung!slj   No cross to bear/If you can find me/
>                     Come and get me out of here."


-- 
Greg Brail  	(Greg @ The Soup Kitchen)
UUCP : ..{ihnp4,seismo,harvard,sri-iu,lll-crg,ut-sally,allegra}!caip!unirot!gjb
ARPA : unirot!gjb@caip.rutgers.edu
USNAIL : Don't bother.

landauer@sun.uucp (Doug Landauer) (05/22/86)

In article <703@mtung.UUCP> slj@mtung.UUCP (Steven Jones) writes:
>I read that, as a rule, people in the Apple world tend to pronounce
>SCSI as "sexy" while people in the IBM world say "scuzzy."
>[...]
>There are four categories 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B where 1=use "SCUZZY"
>2=use "SEXY" and A=prefer "SCUZZY" B=prefer "SEXY."  Please send
>me email ...  ...ihnp4!mtung!slj

This is a wonderful example of how careful you have to be when
you want a survey's results to be meaningful.  There are at least
two more categories:
	3 - Use and prefer "ESS SEE ESS EYE".
	4 - Never heard of SCSI and don't know what it means, or
	    care how it's pronounced.

(Here's my vote for number 3, and my wife's vote for number 4.)

It seems to me to be quite unnecessary to invent a pronunciation for an
unpronounceable acronym, by throwing in gratuitous vowels.  Doing so (in
this case) makes you sound provincial, cliqueish; intending more to
confuse than to convey information.   It makes you sound like a nerd,
much more so than just pronouncing the letters that make up the acronym. 
Now, if it was the "Small Expensive Computer Systems Interface", or the
"Small Computer Unusable Zebra-Ztriped Interface", it wouldn't be a
problem.

Do you call your computer an "Ibbem pick"?

P.S., what does SCSI really stand for?
-- 
	Doug Landauer
	{ihnp4, amdahl, decwrl, seismo, ..}!sun!landauer
	landauer@sun.arpa (so I've been told)
-- 
-- 
	Doug Landauer
	{ihnp4, amdahl, decwrl, seismo, ..}!sun!landauer
	landauer@sun.arpa (so I've been told)

dpz@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (David P. Zimmerman) (05/22/86)

>>I read that, as a rule, people in the Apple world tend to pronounce
>>SCSI as "sexy" while people in the IBM world say "scuzzy."
>>[...]
>>There are four categories 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B where 1=use "SCUZZY"
>>2=use "SEXY" and A=prefer "SCUZZY" B=prefer "SEXY."  Please send
>>me email ...  ...ihnp4!mtung!slj
>
>This is a wonderful example of how careful you have to be when
>you want a survey's results to be meaningful.  There are at least
>two more categories:
>	3 - Use and prefer "ESS SEE ESS EYE".
>	4 - Never heard of SCSI and don't know what it means, or
>	    care how it's pronounced.

Ah, but add *another* one!
	5 - Pronounce SCSI as SCIZZY!  Quite neutral, although it has
shades of SCUZZY.

>(Here's my vote for number 3, and my wife's vote for number 4.)

My vote's for SCUZZY, I'm just used to it, doesn't have any
connotations to me.  Anyway, saying ESS SEE ESS EYE just takes too
much time - by the time I'm through saying it, people have dropped off
to sleep.

>Do you call your computer an "Ibbem pick"?

You don't *want* to hear what I call my computer...

>P.S., what does SCSI really stand for?

SCSI stands for the Small Computer Systems Interface.  Lotsa fun words
there that mean just another port.

			David
-- 
Name: David P. Zimmerman	Nickname: "Davidann" (don't ask)
Cute quote: " (well, *I* think it's cute!)
Arpa: dzimmerman@blue.rutgers.edu
Uucp: ...{harvard, allegra, seismo}!topaz!dpz

briand@tekig4.UUCP (05/22/86)

>>I read that, as a rule, people in the Apple world tend to pronounce
>>SCSI as "sexy" while people in the IBM world say "scuzzy."  From
>>observation, it appears people in the AT&T world also say "scuzzy."
>
>    Some of my friends and I (who are basically members of the Apple
>world) pronounce it as "SKISS-ee." Does anyone else use this? I
>admit this is rather trivial (no flames, please). However, I find
>very little sex appeal in a peripheral inserface, and if it ever does
>manage to become a standard, it can't possibly be that scuzzy. :-)

Actually, this comes from SASI, or Shugart Associates System Interface, and
was pronounced "sassy."  Shugart then proposed it as a standard (ca 1981 or 82)
and ANSI then took it over.  However, ANSI couldn't let something out with a
specific Mfr's name on it, so they changed it to SCSI, for Small Computer
System Interface.  Never mind that it was so named inaccurately, it deals only
with peripherals.  At that time, the ANSI committee noted (but did not docu-
ment) that they considered the "sassy" pronunciation unchanged.

We at Tektronix implemented our own version of SASI in 1982-83 for the 411x
terminal family, but it was known internally as MSIB, for Mass Storage
Interface Bus.  The local joke at the time was that MSIB was still pronounced
"sassy!"

And as for the guy who assumes that simply because it's an adopted standard,
it can't be scuzzy, ahem.  Welcome to the real world.

-Brian Diehm
Tektronix, Inc. (SDA - Standard Disclaimers Apply.  The opinions expressed
                 above are mine alone, sorry for their being posted in crayon
                 but they won't let me have sharp things in here.)

cem@intelca.UUCP (05/23/86)

In article <687@tekig4.UUCP> Brian Diehm writes :
>
> and ANSI then took it over.  However, ANSI couldn't let something out with a
> specific Mfr's name on it, so they changed it to SCSI, for Small Computer
> System Interface.  Never mind that it was so named inaccurately, it deals only
> with peripherals.  At that time, the ANSI committee noted (but did not docu-
> ment) that they considered the "sassy" pronunciation unchanged.
> 
> We at Tektronix implemented our own version of SASI in 1982-83 for the 411x
> terminal family, but it was known internally as MSIB, for Mass Storage
> Interface Bus.  The local joke at the time was that MSIB was still pronounced
> "sassy!"
> 
> And as for the guy who assumes that simply because it's an adopted standard,
> it can't be scuzzy, ahem.  Welcome to the real world.
> 

At least the didn't adopt the name Peripheral Subsystem Standard Interface,
it wouldn't be to tough to come up for a pronounciation of PSSI.

--Chuck
P.S. I call it 'scuzzy' 'cuz it's slow. Give me IPI anytime.
-- 
                                            - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - 
{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\                     All opinions expressed herein are my
        {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem       own and not those of my employer, my
 {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/                     friends, or my avocado plant. :-}

burton@parcvax.UUCP (05/24/86)

Actually, SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface.  It is the ANSI-ized
version of SASI, which is much more euphonious.  

SASI stands for Shugart Associates System Interface.  It was several ex-IBM
mainframe channel [ the "thing" between the 360/370/etc and a device controller]who invented the concept.  

Later on, the SASI inventors went on to form Adaptec, a Milpitas, CA controller 
company.  

Meanwhile, Shugart submitted SASI to an ANSI committee for standards endorsement,  and the name got changed along the way.

By the way, we at Shugart referred to SCSI as "sissy."

bass@dmsd.UUCP (05/24/86)

Another common pronunciation is "sissy", since REAL engineers design their
own disk/tape controllers that REALLY GO FAST.
-- 

John Bass (DBA: Fastime, DBA:DMS Design)
DMS Design (System Design, Performance and Arch Consultants)
{dual,fortune,polyslo,hpda}!dmsd!bass     (805) 546-9141

ln63soi@sdcc7.UUCP (05/24/86)

In article <646@unirot.UUCP> gjb@unirot.UUCP (Greg Brail) writes:
>..., and if it ever does
>manage to become a standard, it can't possibly be that scuzzy. :-)
>

"System V:  from now on, consider it standard." (gag!)

Of course there're plenty of other "standards" that can be considered as
scuzzy.  MS-DOS is one that comes to mind...  I very much prefer SCUZZY as
the pronuciation;  it implies the low-level scuzzy details that are part of
the interfacing process.

Paul van de Graaf	sdcsvax!sdcc7!ln63soi		U. C. San Diego