False economy. The trade-off between "saving some syllables" and the concomitant problems it causes is not worth it.

To this day I don't know what Eli8 means, and I'm not going to even bother to look it up. It's not communication.

Communication requires thought and input from both sides - if I use a numeric abbreviation with someone who is unfamiliar with it, I am communicating badly.

I think where we differ is that I see such abbreviations as no worse than any other - TLAs (three letter acronyms) can also be as impenetrable.

> To this day I don't know what Eli8 means, and I'm not going to even bother to look it up. It's not communication.

My first guess would have been a username for somebody named Elliot. Given that it occurred in this thread, probably not a correct guess.

I always thought you'd still pronounce it as the original word. How do you pronounce it? Aeleveny?

Yep - pretty-much, aye-el-ev-en-why although I may have miscounted the syllables in eleven in my parent post.

It's most pronounced in aye-ate-een-en, internationalization is a word I find myself stumbling when saying in full.

I have never heard any of those pronounciations.

What?!?! I have never heard anyone pronounce these terms in such a ludicrous fashion, and it’s not because I don’t have exposure I do a fair amount of work in this space.