Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term
EMA (e-em-ei) or EMA?
I've just realised that I would always say 'NASA has launched the new shuttle/The new space centre inaugurated by NASA in...'
but 'The FDA ruled against the drug because ....', because I pronounce FDA as ef-dee-ei.
Is there an official position?
Would you use 'EMA approved the marketing authorisation for ...
or The EMA approved the MA for...
This is excluding when EMA is an adjective (The EMA headquarters in Amsterdam...)
Feb 28, 2019 15:07: philgoddard changed "Language pair" from "Italian to English" to "English"
Feb 28, 2019 18:39: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): GILLES MEUNIER, Rachel Fell, Yvonne Gallagher
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Responses
the EMA
But that doesn't mean in the same document I would say 'the NASA' — it seems to me that there are exceptions like 'NASA' where it has become accepted (and is pronounced) as a word in its own right, just like 'NATO' or 'UNESCO' or 'UNICEF' — it seems to me that a rule of thumb might be whether it is pronounced as a word, or is spelt out; I'm sure no-one ever calls it "eema" or "eesa".
Sadly, I can immediately think of one exception to my own (entirely breakable!) rule of thumb, and that is the UK broadcasting sector ITV — there we spell it out as I.T.V. (we wouldn't say 'itva'!!); but, unlike the BBC, it is not a single body, but rather, a sector of the industry, and hence not strictly comparable. Taking another example from industry, but with no acronyms in sight, we would say 'the steel industry' but 'car manufacturing'.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-02-28 16:46:22 GMT)
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Phil kindly points out that the EMA itself omits the article; however, this is not uncommon on corporate websites, which often speak in a kind of 'royal we' first person. In any case, it is very much consistent with the kind of style typical of many websites, and indeed, slick modern journalism too.
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Note added at 20 hrs (2019-03-01 11:40:03 GMT)
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@ Asker
That's my point: there is little logic in the way we view plurals on currencies; no, I have never been asked for '5 pound' — but if I were, my immediate reaction would be a judgement about the person's educational level, as the singular is used within a certain social sphere.
| Just to add: https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do They talk about themselves a 'Nice undertakes', corporate style. PS Tony: have you really been asked about lending 5 pound? Ok for 'lend 5 quid' but 'lend 5 pound' is more than grating on the ear... |
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philgoddard
26 mins
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Thanks, Phil!
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Björn Vrooman
: Actually, I pointed that out (see the video I linked to). As said in the d-box, it's an initialism and I do prefer a definite article in this case, though I don't agree with Phil (in-house style guide etc).//It's all good. And it's a boring vid anyway =)
43 mins
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Thanks, Björn! Sorry, no time to go off watching videos ;-) If yu wish to submit it as an answer, then I'll happily withdraw mine :-)
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Charles Davis
: I would say and write "the EMA" and indeed I did so in a translation recently. It's a matter of prevailing convention (a different point, but the rule that the plural of euro is euro is universally ignored outside the corridors of the EU itself).
1 hr
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Thanks, Charles! Currently wrangling with that myself: sounds natural to say dollars / euros / pounds, but then 'yens'?!
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Yvonne Gallagher
: with Charles. Never use plural euro myself.//no, dollarS/poundS! But they've been around a while! But I remember when we first changed over to euro and reading the reasoning behind using the singular and agreeing with it. However, many use the plural:-(
2 hrs
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Thanks, Yvonne! I don't have a problem with €, but "can you lend me 5 dollar / pound?" always grates on my ears...
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Discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShezrN2gs_8
...it's what you call an initialism and not an acronym. The trouble is that some prefer a definite article for initialisms in general and some don't--the main point being that you need to be consistent. If you use no article for this one, you shouldn't use one for other initialisms.
And before you say that the EMA doesn't use a definite article on its website: You can find British .gov.uk sites that do, e.g.,
"However, most new medicines come to market via a licencing route overseen by the EMA."
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-medicines-med...
Unfortunately, the EU style guide doesn't help much:
http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-4100800en.htm
And there are exceptions:
https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/wrtps/in...
Some also say you don't need it if it's not part of the name. Messy...
Best