Prospero

As we all know BOAC is an abbreviation of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. But how do you pronounce it?

A) as an abbreviated title, B.O.A.C. ?
or
B) as an acronym, bo-ack ?

Does anyone know how it pronounced back in the day?

golfmad

I’m confident it was always answer A.

TravelNew

Please delete

Can I help you

I would say both but primarily bo-ak.

alex67500

I was wondering about that too. The first time I remember the name is from the Beatles song Back in the USSR so I've always said the former, but most of the videos I've seen recently (most recently the Sam Chui 747 video), BA staff and enthusiasts have used the latter.

I guess it's a bit like the scone debate.

VSLover

oddly i never thought about this and always go with A only because saying bo-ack sounds so stupid to my ear! or rather maybe because it makes me think of borat and this the correlation

lloydah

My own recollection is that when used in the media (BBC) or in "serious" conversation it was always BOAC but when friends and other people who were in the industry spoke about the company they generally said Bo Ack.

Light Travellers

Formerly either the full name or B.O.A.C was used but informerly it was always pronounced bo-ack.

TTmex

I believe their equivalent of BAEC was called Selecta.

OddJobMan

I'd never heard of Bo-ack until this thread.

knifeandfork

I draw the board's attention to the track "Back in the USSR" on the Beatles "The White Album" from 1968. The first line should settle it.

Ancient Observer

Some time ago I was introduced by one senior BA person to another, (who had been a senior L/H pilot). It was made clear that he was an ex-B.O.A.C. man.

Geordie405

That's terrible but made me smile

skipness1E

In Scots, to have the bo-ak is to feel sick.
Just sayin'

rpjs

On the other hand, the first line of Bobby Bloom’s 1970 hit “Montego Bay” is clearly “Vernon’ll meet me when the Bo-Ac lands.”