How do you pronounce GameFAQs?

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

He's not a founder, but he did start out by working in their original flagship store in London Tottenham Court Road and produced the original Computer Exchange cartoon advertisements that appeared in the gaming magazines of the time.

I know this is getting into the weeds but this made me question if they were originally on TCR and have moved to nearby Rathbone Place or had always been there and just said TCR because its more well-known, especially given the shop on Rathbone Place looks like its been there for decades. And according to Wikipedia...neither. Was on Whitfield Street originally.

Anyway, procrastination over I guess.

[CrowingJoe79]

Absolutely not. 

[EEVILMURRAY]

I used to call it Game Facks... I probably still do, I've not been on it in years.

CEX also gets called the Sex shop, because teehee.

We also pronounce many a word with i's in them like ee's in this household.

And also pluralise words which do not need it, which is the fault of this chapsings:

 

[CrowingJoe79]

I wasn't impressed by the users there, so nah. I can tell Resident Evil 4 was their first RE game, which like a lot of true fans like me will tell you, is the game that was linked to the undoing of the survival horror genre. 

In fact, so many people defend that game. So, S-O-O-O many. However, RE4 is not as scary or difficult as RE1, CV, and whatnot. But I cannot be bothered telling them otherwise anymore.

It's a game designed to suit COD loving casuals who hate slower paced horror games with puzzles and item management. Like the big boys grew up with in the 90s. Boo. 

Damn it. Why'd I wanna play a prehistoric zombies game with a biker babe, when I really want ma 2,58,231 bullets for ma pistol, that just fell from da random dead bearded guy's arse, even though ah could swear ah kilt da guy only 5 minutes earlier. Hmmm. I nonetheless call dat troo sir Viv Val ho roar. Ah really do think y'all live in the past way dis need for wanting 2 see fixed cam RAH Anne gulls. Third person tops all.

RE4, 4 lyfe. M8, if ya disagree with ma opinion on sum web forum like dis 1, U R wrong. I will make sure U gonna be outed!!!!!1 

Kidding, and typos are still more evil than the T-Virus. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by CrowingJoe79

[Happenstance]

[CrowingJoe79]

You must not be a fan of GameFAQs. What about GameSpot, then? 

Darn it. Aren't they more or less the same?

[Ashley]

9 hours ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

CEX also gets called the Sex shop, because teehee.

I actually saw an advert for them the other day and that's how they pronounced it so you might be onto something. 

[CrowingJoe79]

Do you know of ResetEra?

[EEVILMURRAY]

1 hour ago, CrowingJoe79 said:

Do you know of ResetEra?

Reese Teara?

[Jonnas]

Rez-uh-terra

I know of it, but I clearly never heard it

[Cube]

I'm a heathen they pronounces "nez" and "snez".

[Julius]

I personally read it (and would say it - though I don't think I've ever actually said it out loud?) as GameFACKS - rolling that FAQs into the word as an acronym instead of an initialism. I think it rolls off the tongue better and sounds more natural to me as "GameFACKS". It also just sounds similar enough to "Game-Facts" that it seems apt to say it that way. 

Sure, F-A-Qs by itself is technically correct, but if we're trying to be pedantic about it, since when in the English language do we combine a word with an initialism in that way? The routes are in it being a 90s website name, so it's baloney to begin with 

Bonus point: I'd also love to hear how you guys saying it's Game-F-A-Qs pronounce CD-ROM – what, you say C-D–R-O-M, instead of C-D–Rom  (̶,t̶h̶e̶ V̶a̶c̶u̶o̶u̶s̶ S̶p̶i̶d̶e̶r̶)̶? I think I might need to start blocking some people on here if so  

When it comes to an *actual* initialism like a console name, such as the S-N-E-S or N-E-S, well, I read and say it as an initialism. "Snez" and "Nez" just both sound so wrong to me...and now that I think about it, pretty much every gaming podcast I've stopped listening to has pronounced it that way at some point. 

Huh. Ain't that a thing. 

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

Bonus point: I'd also love to hear how you guys saying it's Game-F-A-Qs pronounce CD-ROM – what, you say C-D–R-O-M, instead of C-D–Rom  (̶,t̶h̶e̶ V̶a̶c̶u̶o̶u̶s̶ S̶p̶i̶d̶e̶r̶)̶? I think I might need to start blocking some people on here if so  

Do people say "facks" for just FAQs? I've never heard anyone say it that way. Whereas ROM has become an acronym. If there wasn't the O I'm sure it would be an initialisation because it would just be awkward to pronounce, which I think is my problem with "facks" because a Q should be followed by a U, not a 's'.

"Facks" just sounds clunky. 

But yeah I'd say "nez" and "snez" because the vowel helps it. If Nintendo had called it the Nintendo Famicom System in the West I would be saying "N-F-S" not "nifs". 

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Do people say "facks" for just FAQs? I've never heard anyone say it that way.

No, which is exactly what I'm saying 

2 hours ago, Julius said:

Sure, F-A-Qs by itself is technically correct, but if we're trying to be pedantic about it, since when in the English language do we combine a word with an initialism in that way?

Is the discussion how to pronounce "GameFAQs" or "FAQs"?

The first one's made up, a website name which combined a word and an initialism into a single entity. If it read "Game FAQs", I would read it as "Game F-A-Qs" and agree that that's the correct pronunciation because the words are separate entities, but the decision to make it a single word - for branding and website name purposes - leaves it open to more discussion. There isn't a "right answer", really, because again if we start going the route of "it's an initialism and should be read as such" doesn't really apply when we're throwing the English language out of the window anyways to discuss how to pronounce a made-up singular word  

The second I'd pronounce "F-A-Qs". There's an actual precedent for it's pronunciation and it's not exactly uncommon to hear it said out loud. 

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Whereas ROM has become an acronym. If there wasn't the O I'm sure it would be an initialisation because it would just be awkward to pronounce, which I think is my problem with "facks" because a Q should be followed by a U, not a 's'.

Right, agreed, and it's the exact same with FAQs in the context of how some of us are pronouncing "GameFAQs" with "facks"; if it were "GameFQs" we were discussing, I guarantee every soul here saying "facks" would be saying "Game F-Qs" and nothing else; the vowel is what pieces it together. I think you're focusing too much on the Q rather than the greater picture of the vowel next to it. Why would it need a 'U' after it if it's part of an initialism or acronym? Q can have a 'k' sound, and even though we can argue that it's not found at the end of any conventional English word I can think of, well, conventions aren't really being applied here. The 's' is pluralising "Frequently Asked Question", not just "Question". 

Also, just because ROM has become an acronym - it wouldn't be incorrect to also pronounce it as it's initialism, R-O-M. ASAP, LOL...sure, it's more popular these days probably to pronounce those as acronyms, but you also wouldn't be wrong to pronounce them as initialisms. I think the argument here is more about whether the initialism ("FAQs") stays an initialism ("F-A-Qs") in the context of no longer being an initialism ("GameFAQs") by being merged with another word. My point with bringing "CD-ROM" into the conversation was to make the point that (while technically hyphenated) you can combine two initialisms yet only read one as an initialism and the other as an acronym - so why not the same with the word and an initialism allowing you to say that as an acronym? 

Personally, I don't really think there's a wrong way to say it, either way; again, I don't think normal conventions of the English language really apply. But the first time I read it, have since read it, and would even say it now, is as "GameFacks". I wouldn't correct someone or question it if I heard them say "Game F-A-Qs", though, because I can still understand what they're talking about – and I'm sure people would still understand us "GameFacks" lot. 

Anyways, turns we've all been saying GameFAQs wrong; per The Great GameFAQs Q&A of 18 years ago (!):

Quote

Usual questions off the bat, to get them over with: [...] how exactly is GameFAQs pronounced?

[...]

GameFAQs is officially pronounced "gaam faks".

Turns out reading FAQs as "facks"/"faks"/"fax" is "official"?

...

But we all forgot about the possibility that this guy couldn't pronounce "game" to save his life. 

Edited January 1 by Julius

[Ashley]

Oh yeah I don't care about how people actually pronounce it (I'm a big proponent of the fact that language is something all people have power over and they should), just kept hearing it and it always stands out so I thought I'd ask what others say. The same way if I read something like "Nintendo have..." it stands out to me because technically it's grammatically incorrect so it pricks my ear but you do you. 

And I know it wasn't your main point but I think ASAP is a rare example where it's pronounced as an initialisation and acronym, although I think acronym is more common. Just something I thought about while reading. 

And my point about the Q is it forms a harsh uncommon sound at the end of the word. The Q and K sounds are different, particularly the softer K sound that is usually used at the end of words ("quick"). 

I know it's one word, but it's one word for stylisation purposes. I always just end up pronouncing these separately ("reset era") but maybe that's just a me thing. 

Regarding "official" ways of saying things I refer you back to my point about the creator of GIFs. And also, Twitter. 

[EEVILMURRAY]

12 hours ago, Cube said:

I'm a heathen they member of the righteous that pronounces "nez" and "snez".

Corrected.

[CrowingJoe79]

Well...

FAQs is actually an abbreviation for Frequently Asked Questions. So where the heck did "facts" come from? 

[Sheikah]

Turns out reading FAQs as "facks"/"faks"/"fax" is "official"?
...
But we all forgot about the possibility that this guy couldn't pronounce "game" to save his life. 

Yeah, I always thought it was common knowledge that it was pronounced "Game Facks", and that was generally accepted/understood by the people on there going ages back. The same way people say "FOMO" as a single word rather than "eff oh emm oh".

It is somewhat amusing though to see people think they're being astute by essentially saying "hey, the FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, don't you know?!"

You don't say...

[Ashley]

11 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Yeah, I always thought it was common knowledge that it was pronounced "Game Facks", and that was generally accepted/understood by the people on there going ages back. The same way people say "FOMO" as a single word rather than "eff oh emm oh".

It is somewhat amusing though to see people think they're being astute by essentially saying "hey, the FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, don't you know?!"

You don't say...

I think it's just weird because I don't hear people saying FAQ as a word, but maybe I just associate myself with the right people. 

[Sheikah]

I think it's just weird because I don't hear people saying FAQ as a word, but maybe I just associate myself with the right people. 

Yeah you'd spell FAQ out if talking about it on its own as otherwise nobody would know what you're talking about. But GameFAQs has for a long time been said that way by a lot of the userbase. I'd argue most who are familiar with the site would still know what gaming website was being talking about in context if someone said Game-facks, regardless of how much they dislike it being said that way.

I'd also contest that the whole "but you'd say it this way in this other context" doesn't really work in establishing a one-rule. Sometimes abbreviations are said differently depending on the context. The way of pronouncing "OS" (operating system) in MS-DOS versus iOS, for instance.

[Ashley]

9 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

I'd argue most who are familiar with the site would still know what gaming website was being talking about in context if someone said Game-facks, regardless of how much they dislike it being said that way.

I guess like people who say "data" with a 'h' in there. You know what they're saying but you judge them all the same. Or at least I do. The weirdos. 

[CrowingJoe79]

One positive thing I can say is that the site has active forums, because a huge majority of the other sites I know of with forums either have no activity to speak of any more, or the relatively few users on them are morons, like the dafties lurking on this site.

https://www.dreamindemon.com/community/threads/more-waffle-than-birds-eye.143166/#post-1598167

I know if I posted on GameFAQs today, I'd be likely to gain a reply. But whether that reply is good or not, depends on that person who is responding.

Edited February 3 by CrowingJoe79

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, CrowingJoe79 said:

like the dafties lurking on this site

An interesting way to make friends

[CrowingJoe79]

They're trolls.