Initialisms or acronyms

[Steve Hayes]

A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.

I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".

So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".

I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

[Adam Funk]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

I've only heard that used facetiously.

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".

I haven't heard that, but I have heard "ufology" as "youfology".

Post by Steve Hayes
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

[HVS]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about
"earls" in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to
realise she was treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100%
said they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl"
pronunciation, or if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

The "earl" pronunciation is what I defaulted to when I first saw it,
and it was quite a while -- probably a year or more -- before I heard
it spoken and discovered that "you are ell" was the accepted
pronunciation.

I switched to "you are ell" for the very few times I have to
pronounce it in public, but my mind's ear still hears it as "earl"
when I see it.

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you
foes".

I think I stumbled upon "you-foes" when people started to talk about
"ufology" and "ufologist" as field of interest[1], but again, my
mind's ear still hears "you eff oh" when I see it.


[1] I find it very difficult to talk about "ufologists" without
saying that it's pronounced "nutters".

[Steve Hayes]

Post by HVS

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".

I think I stumbled upon "you-foes" when people started to talk about
"ufology" and "ufologist" as field of interest[1], but again, my
mind's ear still hears "you eff oh" when I see it.
[1] I find it very difficult to talk about "ufologists" without
saying that it's pronounced "nutters".

Perhaps the "you foes" pronunciation is the mark of a nutter.

[Sn!pe]

HVS <***@REMOVETHISwhhvs.co.uk> wrote:

[...]

Post by HVS

Post by Steve Hayes
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl"
pronunciation, or if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

The "earl" pronunciation is what I defaulted to when I first saw it,
and it was quite a while -- probably a year or more -- before I heard
it spoken and discovered that "you are ell" was the accepted
pronunciation.

Similarly, in my mind's ear, "http://www" is pronounced "hattipoo wow".

[lar3ryca]

Post by Sn!pe
[...]

Post by HVS

Post by Steve Hayes
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl"
pronunciation, or if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

The "earl" pronunciation is what I defaulted to when I first saw it,
and it was quite a while -- probably a year or more -- before I heard
it spoken and discovered that "you are ell" was the accepted
pronunciation.

Similarly, in my mind's ear, "http://www" is pronounced "hattipoo wow".

I seldom see it, as I have 'https only' set.

I guess that's more like 'hatapiss bang"

[Paul Wolff]

Post by HVS

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about
"earls" in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to
realise she was treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100%
said they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl"
pronunciation, or if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

The "earl" pronunciation is what I defaulted to when I first saw it,
and it was quite a while -- probably a year or more -- before I heard
it spoken and discovered that "you are ell" was the accepted
pronunciation.
I switched to "you are ell" for the very few times I have to
pronounce it in public, but my mind's ear still hears it as "earl"
when I see it.

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".

I think I stumbled upon "you-foes" when people started to talk about
"ufology" and "ufologist" as field of interest[1], but again, my
mind's ear still hears "you eff oh" when I see it.

Written out like that, it makes me think "you eff off". Just a small
hint to the aliens, you understand.

[Peter Moylan]

Post by Paul Wolff

Post by HVS

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about
"earls" in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to
realise she was treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100%
said they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl"
pronunciation, or if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

The "earl" pronunciation is what I defaulted to when I first saw it,
and it was quite a while -- probably a year or more -- before I heard
it spoken and discovered that "you are ell" was the accepted
pronunciation.
I switched to "you are ell" for the very few times I have to
pronounce it in public, but my mind's ear still hears it as "earl"
when I see it.

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".

I think I stumbled upon "you-foes" when people started to talk about
"ufology" and "ufologist" as field of interest[1], but again, my
mind's ear still hears "you eff oh" when I see it.

Written out like that, it makes me think "you eff off". Just a small
hint to the aliens, you understand.

These days I reserve UFO for unidentifiable frying objects.

[Cri-Cri]

Post by Peter Moylan
UFO for unidentifiable frying objects.

...or un-effable offenses.

[David LaRue]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

I'm a computer engineer. The few times I've said it and heard it were
"earl". Few people name the letters.

FWIW, I've been a software engineer since before email was standardized and a
little before people knew of ARPAnet as the Internet. I've never used or
trusted anything from a soial media source.

[Peter Moylan]

Post by David LaRue
FWIW, I've been a software engineer since before email was
standardized and a little before people knew of ARPAnet as the
Internet. I've never used or trusted anything from a soial media
source.

There are plenty of people who believe that social media are the entire
content of the Internet.

Yesterday I was trying to tell my wife the difference between the
Internet and the world-wide web. I must have done a bad job, because she
still can't see the difference.

There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such a
tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Peter Moylan

Post by David LaRue
FWIW, I've been a software engineer since before email was
standardized and a little before people knew of ARPAnet as the
Internet.  I've never used or trusted anything from a soial media
source.

There are plenty of people who believe that social media are the entire
content of the Internet.
Yesterday I was trying to tell my wife the difference between the
Internet and the world-wide web. I must have done a bad job, because she
still can't see the difference.
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such a
tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.

In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website.
I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS & Android flavours
so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard & 25 inch display, I
must squint at the tiny display on my phone & attempt that pretence of a
keyboard it offers.

At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb phone,
and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a strange fashion.

[Sn!pe]

Sam Plusnet <***@home.com> wrote:
[...]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Peter Moylan
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such a
tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.
In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website.
I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS & Android flavours
so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard & 25 inch display, I
must squint at the tiny display on my phone & attempt that pretence of a
keyboard it offers.
At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb phone,
and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a strange fashion.

[UK specific]
I can contact my doctor's surgery via the NHS website, which works
on my desktop. The NHS smartphone app. is quite slick to use but
I do agree about the horrid 'phone "keyboard".

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Sn!pe
[...]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Peter Moylan
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such a
tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.
In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website.
I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS & Android flavours
so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard & 25 inch display, I
must squint at the tiny display on my phone & attempt that pretence of a
keyboard it offers.
At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb phone,
and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a strange fashion.

[UK specific]
I can contact my doctor's surgery via the NHS website, which works
on my desktop. The NHS smartphone app. is quite slick to use but
I do agree about the horrid 'phone "keyboard".

The NHS app might sometimes be 'slick', but _NOT_ when it gets into the
hands of my dearly beloved.
She has the sort of talent that causes software to do things that the
designers would swear could never happen.

[David LaRue]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Sn!pe
[...]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Peter Moylan
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such
a tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.
In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website.
I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS & Android flavours
so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard & 25 inch display, I
must squint at the tiny display on my phone & attempt that pretence of
a keyboard it offers.
At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb phone,
and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a strange fashion.

[UK specific]
I can contact my doctor's surgery via the NHS website, which works
on my desktop. The NHS smartphone app. is quite slick to use but
I do agree about the horrid 'phone "keyboard".

The NHS app might sometimes be 'slick', but _NOT_ when it gets into the
hands of my dearly beloved.
She has the sort of talent that causes software to do things that the
designers would swear could never happen.

There are those of us that cling to our dumb phones because we can
understand what they will do with a conversation. A smrt phone can hide
many things along with giving the illusion of a simple conversation. If it
was a simple conversation, why add complexity to the conversation?

One of my doctors web confirmation registration processes does that. I try
to answer it, but the app wants more info that it won't ask for. I simply
show up for the appointment they notified me of and all is well.

I'll use a web site from my computer but not from a phone. I don't even
tell my computer my email address or name, so it is fairly easy to tell
what such a site is really after.

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by David LaRue

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Sn!pe
[...]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Peter Moylan
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer. Well,
technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device with such
a tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.
In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website.
I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS & Android flavours
so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard & 25 inch display, I
must squint at the tiny display on my phone & attempt that pretence of
a keyboard it offers.
At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb phone,
and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a strange fashion.

[UK specific]
I can contact my doctor's surgery via the NHS website, which works
on my desktop. The NHS smartphone app. is quite slick to use but
I do agree about the horrid 'phone "keyboard".

The NHS app might sometimes be 'slick', but _NOT_ when it gets into the
hands of my dearly beloved.
She has the sort of talent that causes software to do things that the
designers would swear could never happen.

There are those of us that cling to our dumb phones because we can
understand what they will do with a conversation. A smrt phone can hide
many things along with giving the illusion of a simple conversation. If it
was a simple conversation, why add complexity to the conversation?
One of my doctors web confirmation registration processes does that. I try
to answer it, but the app wants more info that it won't ask for. I simply
show up for the appointment they notified me of and all is well.
I'll use a web site from my computer but not from a phone. I don't even
tell my computer my email address or name, so it is fairly easy to tell
what such a site is really after.

Certainly, where you have the choice.
My point was that more and more 'services' are now _only_ accessible via
their 'App' which may be a horribly constructed pile of %^&*.

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Post by Sam Plusnet
Certainly, where you have the choice.
My point was that more and more 'services' are now _only_ accessible via
their 'App' which may be a horribly constructed pile of %^&*.

Just today I read at a webpage with a service that I use (forgotten
which) that they discontinue their app and refer to their webpage.

More of that!

[Ruud Harmsen]

Fri, 5 Apr 2024 21:05:13 +0200: Bertel Lund Hansen

Post by Bertel Lund Hansen

Post by Sam Plusnet
Certainly, where you have the choice.
My point was that more and more 'services' are now _only_ accessible via
their 'App' which may be a horribly constructed pile of %^&*.

Just today I read at a webpage with a service that I use (forgotten
which) that they discontinue their app and refer to their webpage.
More of that!

Fully agree!: https://rudhar.com/sfreview/appgekte/en.htm

[Peter Moylan]

Post by Sam Plusnet

Post by Peter Moylan

Post by David LaRue
FWIW, I've been a software engineer since before email was
standardized and a little before people knew of ARPAnet as the
Internet. I've never used or trusted anything from a soial
media source.

There are plenty of people who believe that social media are the
entire content of the Internet.
Yesterday I was trying to tell my wife the difference between the
Internet and the world-wide web. I must have done a bad job,
because she still can't see the difference.
There are also people who try to use their phone as a computer.
Well, technically it is one, but who can take seriously a device
with such a tiny screen and a two-thumb keyboard?

You and I must be wrong.
In order to contact the local Surgery I can now no longer use their
website. I now have to use 'the App' - available only in iOS &
Android flavours so I can't use this PC, with its proper keyboard &
25 inch display, I must squint at the tiny display on my phone &
attempt that pretence of a keyboard it offers.
At least I have a 'smart' phone. My wife clings on to her dumb
phone, and cannot see why she should be forced to change to suit a
strange fashion.

I am very much in sympathy with your wife.

My own wife has succumbed to the pressure to put her driver's licence on
her phone. Now, any time she has to produce identification, ten minutes
are wasted while she's trying to work out where it is on her phone.

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.

Every Dane does that - with Danish pronunciation. The same with "ufo". I
have never heard anything else in Danish. Those pronunciation do not
sound like another word.

[Cri-Cri]

Post by Bertel Lund Hansen
Every Dane does that - with Danish pronunciation. The same with "ufo". I
have never heard anything else in Danish. Those pronunciation do not
sound like another word.

So, "ufåå" or something? Same in Swedish. Nobody says u-eff-o.

But we do say u-err-ell and not "urrl" as one word.

[Kyonshi]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

I know it's spelled U-R-L, but I still call them urls (or rather ewwrls)
for myself. It's faster to say.
"You foes" also doesn't sound incorrect, as in German we use that all
the time (albeit as Oo-faw because German spelling and stuff)

[lar3ryca]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.

I've heard it but not often.

Post by Steve Hayes
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

Same.

[lar3ryca]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

[Sn!pe]

Post by lar3ryca

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

Then, of course, there's fsck...

[Adam Funk]

Post by Sn!pe

Post by lar3ryca

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

I'd probably go for 'sea-shark' or 'sea-shirk', although I normally
use bash (cue flames).

Post by Sn!pe
Then, of course, there's fsck...

For me that rhymes with "musk".

[Peter Moylan]

Post by lar3ryca

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

She sells C shells by the seashore.

[Cri-Cri]

Post by Peter Moylan
She sells C shells by the seashore.

Ismo said: "she shells shee shells by the shee shore" Which he thought was
stupid, since they are right there, for free, on the "shee shore."

[Cri-Cri]

Post by lar3ryca
For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

I'm on Manjaro, I don't have it so I haven't reflected on the name.
But .bashrc rhymes with hardy har see.

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by lar3ryca
For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file
'cshrc' as

What, is `linuxoid' considered harmful?

[Phil Carmody]

Post by lar3ryca

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked about "earls"
in an inappropriate context, and it took me a while to realise she was
treating "URL" as an acronym.
I ran a poll on Twitter to see if anyone else did that, and 100% said
they pronounced URL as "you are ell".
So I wonder if anyone else has ever heard the "earl" pronunciation, or
if it was just my cousin's idiolect.
Another instance was a man I met who pronounced "UFOs" as "you foes".
I'm running a poll in Twitter and Mastodon on that too, but I wonder
if anyone here has heard that pronounciation.

For the linuxers out there, do you pronounce the file 'cshrc' as
'cashrock' or 'seashark'?

As someone who's only ever used cshrc on SunOS and Solaris, that's
a not-as-well-aimed-as-it-could-have-been question. There's more to
Unix than just Linux.

When I did have to refer to it (well over 30 years ago) I, and everyone
around me used the former, with both vowels schwaed into almost
nothingness. Anyone know any czechs, I guess they'd have a pretty good
grip on pronouncing such clusters.

I'm somewhat perturbed by the latter. You've broken it in a completely
illogical place. It's the csh's rc, not the c's shrc. Anyone pronouncing
it way I would consider some kind of poorly trained Microsoft spy.
How does Lennart Poettering pronounce it?

Phil

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked
about "earls" in an inappropriate context, and it took me
a while to realise she was treating "URL" as an acronym.

And I am not puzzled, but outright annoyed by this
malacroymisation. One of my ill-time favourites is
pronouncing `SQL' as `sequel'. The sequel to what? SQL is
no longer the Structured English QUEry Language.

[Phil Carmody]

Post by Anton Shepelev

Post by Steve Hayes
A while back I was puzzled when a cousin of mine talked
about "earls" in an inappropriate context, and it took me
a while to realise she was treating "URL" as an acronym.

And I am not puzzled, but outright annoyed by this
malacroymisation. One of my ill-time favourites is
pronouncing `SQL' as `sequel'. The sequel to what? SQL is
no longer the Structured English QUEry Language.

But it is. It changed its acronym purely because of a trademark issue.
Just because you drop some vowels doesn't mean you need to radically
reform its pronunciation. The new pronunciation adds new vowels, there's
nothing intrinsically purer about it. It's a change for no good reason.

Phil

[Anton Shepelev]

Post by Anton Shepelev
And I am not puzzled, but outright annoyed by this
malacroymisation. One of my ill-time favourites is
pronouncing `SQL' as `sequel'. The sequel to what? SQL
is no longer the Structured English QUEry Language.

But it is. It changed its acronym purely because of a
trademark issue.

Yes, and it changed the acroym to an abbreviation.

Just because you drop some vowels doesn't mean you need to
radically reform its pronunciation.

This is irrelevant: nobody dropped any vowels from a word,
but rather an adjective was removed from the term, making
the previous acronym unfit to describe it. Not to mention
that it was bad to begin with, for nobody remembers the
sequel to (or improvement over) what SQL is; they say
`sequel' merely because it is less effort on the tongue.
They are not referring to any sequel! Things should be
named according to what they are, rather than to what they
supercede (cf. `Paracelsus').

Whereas, SEQL is begging to be pronounced as `sequel', but
SQL does not.

The new pronunciation adds new vowels, there's nothing
intrinsically purer about it. It's a change for no good
reason.

The reason is that words should be used according to their
meaning rather than sound. For example, `SMART' in `SMART
goals' is rightly pronounced as the word `smart', for they
are: Specific, Measurable, Quantiable, Assignable, and
Realistic. In short -- smart.