Change in pronunciation

I was watching NASA TV last night and saw a movie documenting NASA's
efforts in 1958. I am assuming it was made in late '58 or early '59.
The narrator kept calling NASA by its letters not the acronym
"nah-suh". I know the NACA was called "enn-ay-see-ay". When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?

Gene

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:16:44 -0700, Gene DiGennaro wrote:

I was watching NASA TV last night and saw a movie documenting NASA's
efforts in 1958. I am assuming it was made in late '58 or early '59.
The narrator kept calling NASA by its letters not the acronym
"nah-suh". I know the NACA was called "enn-ay-see-ay". When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?


I don't know what the answer to your question is, but I do know that too
many people pronounce it like it was the capital city of the Bahamas.

When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?

1959.

From Rick DeNatale:
On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:16:44 -0700, Gene DiGennaro wrote:

I was watching NASA TV last night and saw a movie documenting NASA's
efforts in 1958. I am assuming it was made in late '58 or early '59.
The narrator kept calling NASA by its letters not the acronym
"nah-suh". I know the NACA was called "enn-ay-see-ay". When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?

My guess is that everyone who was ignorant of the N-A-C-A looked at
the letters NASA and pronounced it as a word - it became an acronym
the instant NASA was created (perhaps it was only the holdovers from
the N-A-C-A who tried to keep abbreviation continuity).

Another interesting observation is how acronym proponents exercise
revisional history by pronouncing N-A-C-A as "nacka".

I don't know what the answer to your question is, but I do know that too
many people pronounce it like it was the capital city of the Bahamas.

To add to the confusion, folks at MSC went so far as to build homes
straight across the front gate in a town they named... you guessed
it, Nassau Bay:

http://www.nassaubay.com/history_early_years.htm

(More factoids on Nassau Bay:
http://www.nassaubay.com/history_factoids.htm)


Combining these facts might suggest that there was a Jimmy
Buffett-style attitude that influenced the conversion of N-A-S-A to
the acronym "Nassa".


~ CT

(Gene DiGennaro) wrote in message . com...
I was watching NASA TV last night and saw a movie documenting NASA's
efforts in 1958. I am assuming it was made in late '58 or early '59.
The narrator kept calling NASA by its letters not the acronym
"nah-suh". I know the NACA was called "enn-ay-see-ay". When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?



What about Project Gemini?

Is it "Gem-in-eye" or "Gem-in-nee"?


Don't even ask about Max Faget. ;-)


--
Rusty Barton - Antelope, California

Visit my Atlas & Titan I ICBM history websites

http://www.geocities.com/atlas_missile/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/titan_1_missile/index.html

From "wassup" :
When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?

1959.

(Al, to reiterate my "vote", I'm going with 1958.)


~ CT

I used to say EYE until E2M.

--
If you have had problems with Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC),
please contact shredder at bellsouth dot net. There may be a class-action
lawsuit
in the works.

I don't know what the answer to your question is, but I do know that too
many people pronounce it like it was the capital city of the Bahamas.

So how should it be pronounced?

"Rusty B" wrote in message
om...
(Gene DiGennaro) wrote in message
. com...
I was watching NASA TV last night and saw a movie documenting NASA's
efforts in 1958. I am assuming it was made in late '58 or early '59.
The narrator kept calling NASA by its letters not the acronym
"nah-suh". I know the NACA was called "enn-ay-see-ay". When did the
pronunciation change from "en-ay-ess-ay" to what we currently call it?



What about Project Gemini?

Is it "Gem-in-eye" or "Gem-in-nee"?

You know, until watching From the Earth to the Moon I always thought it was
the former and had never heard the latter.




Don't even ask about Max Faget. ;-)


--
Rusty Barton - Antelope, California

Visit my Atlas & Titan I ICBM history websites

http://www.geocities.com/atlas_missile/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/titan_1_missile/index.html

On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 20:52:59 -0400, "Bob Martin" wrote:

I don't know what the answer to your question is, but I do know that too
many people pronounce it like it was the capital city of the Bahamas.

So how should it be pronounced?

Pronounce it "NASS-uh", not "NASS-saw".