Double Yous

A segment of the population somehow misunderstood the way one should verbalize an internet address and someone, somehow has to correct them. It may as well be me.

There seems to be large number of people who can’t say three w’s in a row. When they tell you web address they’ll say “w w dot”, completely omitting the third w. Can they not hear themselves and have they ever tried to start a web address with just two w’s? It will not work. There must be a triple w microchip missing in their brains. Maybe it’s genetic.

Several years ago, one of my students at Mohawk College turned in a radio project throughout which he repeated “w w dot”. I listened to it two or three times just to make absolutely sure I was hearing a consistent omission of the third w, and I was indeed. I failed him on the project, using the logical argument that each and every web address he gave in his show was incorrect and useless. He was shocked! Apparently everyone else just let him slide through life with two w’s. Well, I’m a three w kind of gal and nothing less will do. Accuracy is important.

These days, it’s very easy to get around the missing three w microchip. No one really needs to say “w w w dot” anymore. It’s like explaining that a long distance call requires a “1” before the area code. It’s not necessary because everybody knows it. But the other day I called a web related company and was shocked to hear in the “no one can answer your call right now” message that I could visit their website at “w w dot blah blah blah.” So I gently set them straight. If they’re going to bother talking down to me about the three w’s, the least they could do is get it right.