[hasenj]

One thing about abbreviations in Arabic is they will be read as a word, not as distinct letters. In English, "http" can't be read as a word, you always read it as "ech-tee-tee-pee". "etc" is not read "etk" but read as "ee-tee-see". Where as in arabic, "الخ" is read as one word "ilkh" instead of as letters "alif-lam-kha".

So, to abbreviate words, you have to think hard about how people will read it. For instance, someone mentioned in another reply "Hamas" and "Fatah". Both these abbreviations read nicely as other words with related meanings. But, how would one abbreviate "Filisteen"?

If you choose the first three letters "Filis", well, that reads like "penny" and is generally used to refer to cheap things - you don't want to use that.

If you use "ft", that would read as "FiTT" فط which just sounds awful in Arabic. (it's not like "fit", the "t" here is heavy/strong).

Actually, "filisteen" is already bad enough: it sounds like "filis" + "TTeen" which is "penny" + "dirt" (we used to make fun of this when we were kids). Though in Palestinian (and the Levant region in general) they pronounce it "falasteen", not "filisteen".

[chad_oliver]

Good points, although I believe "etc" is pronounced etcetera, or ɛtˈsɛtərə in IPA.

[munificent]

It's pronounced "et cetera" because that's what it's an abbreviation of. Most abbreviations (unlike acronyms) aren't verbalized in their abbreviated form. You say "versus", not "vs" when you read it.

However, I do often hear Unix hackers say "et-sey" when referring to the "etc/" directory because precision is important there: the directory is not named "etcetera" so pronouncing it as such would confuse.

[jrockway]

"etc" is not read "etk" but read as "ee-tee-see".

I call /etc/passwd "etsy password".

[abuzzooz]

Of course, the correct pronunciation is "filasteen" :) But I agree. Hard to abbreviate.