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WIP (work in progress) is a commonly used acronym. But what is the correct way to pronounce it? Letter by letter seems clunky.

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The proper way to say it is /work in progress/. You can use the acronym for written texts, but there is little harm in speaking the words in full.

This approach is used on a youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-cBY4L_y_s Note that the (hand written) captions say "WIP" but the speaker says the words in full.

If you need to speak it as an acronym the /wip/ (to rhyme with zip) is acceptable. This is used in another youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgTxEkcWX0A

This assumes that you are speaking to people who are well versed in the jargon of product management. Most speakers (including this one five minutes ago) would have no idea what "work in progress" means (unless it is something to do with Finnegan's Wake)

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  • So just reword it? That perfectly makes sense! Thank you.
    – Eisenfrost
    Apr 14, 2021 at 14:47
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    But if you are speaking to an audience where this is normal jargon, it's fine to say it like whip. I am familiar with the acronym, because it is used in my field (for example, limitedwipsociety.ning.com) and saying "work in progress" every time would start to sound a little strange.
    – stangdon
    Apr 15, 2021 at 11:15
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    This is purely anecdotal, but I'm an audience where this is normal jargon,and pronouncing it like "whip" would sound strange to me. Depending on the context, I might not even recognize what it meant. On the other hand, while "double-yoo aye pee" may be a bit clunky, I would find it to be a immediately recognizable and reasonable way to say it. (That said, actually reading it out as "work in progress" is still probably best.)
    – Admiral Jota
    Apr 15, 2021 at 21:34

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