Years ago "mike" was short for microphone. In recent years "mic" has replaced it. What brought about the change? "mike" is obviously pronounced with a long "i", while "mic" would ordinarily be pronounced with a short "i" like in "tic". In general to get a long "i" an "e" is added to the end, but can't be done here, because the "c" then gets an "s" sound rather than "k" sound.
microphone short word.
- Thread starter mathman
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exchemist
Valued Senior Member
DaveC426913
Valued Senior Member
1] Mike is already taken, and could lead to confusion, esp. if your drummer is named Mike.
2] Mic is shorter. Easier to print in places where space is at a premium.
3] When you see "Mic" you know what it means - especially as it is most likely to be in-context.
But mostly:
4] How Mic "might normally" be pronounced if it were its own word is irrelevant. It's an abbreviation for Microphone.
Here's a list of abbreviations:
https://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/abbreviations/
How many of them sound silly if you treat them as bona fide words instead of abbreviations?
For example:
"Assoc. " If you were to read this aloud from a book, would you literally sound it out as "assock"?
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