[X Newbies] He said, she said.

[Florin Alexander Neumann]

On Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003, at 14:03 Canada/Eastern, Bob Baron wrote:

> Verbally I say "Mac OS X," she says "Mac OS Ten."  We haven't come to 
> blows (yet) but is there a correct and proper way of identifying the 
> OS when speaking?

"X" stands for the Roman numeral equivalent to "10". Therefore, the 
correct pronounciation is "Mac OS Ten", not "Mac OS Eks". However, what 
is correct and what people use are two very different things, 
especially in English, which, unlike French, doesn't have a recognized 
authority to set linguistic standards. So, if in real life "forums" 
instead of "fora" and "flammable" instead of "inflammable" don't bother 
you, you can go on saying "Mac OS Eks".

f