The terms VoIP and WiFi have been dismissed as “geekonics” by the organisers of the Internet Service Provider Awards 2006, aka the ISPAs.

So the ISPA crowd has decided to re-name its Best VoIP category ‘Best Internet Telephony’. Which, er, really rolls of the tongue.

I hate jargon, I hate cliches and I hate the mangling of the English language that’s taking place right now on the desktops of a thousand line managers. But I like “voip”. Not VoIP, with its skyscraper capitals. Not “vee-oh-i-pee”, with its slightly embarrassed undertone of “is that how I’m supposed to say it?”. No, I like “voip”. Voip, to rhyme with “pipe”, as pronounced by a bloke from Dublin.

Voip is a cute, sassy word, infinitely catchier than “internet telephony”. I can understand why the ISPA people might think it’s geek jargon, but I’m sure they’d have said the same about “blog” a couple of years ago - not to mention “iPod”. Now, would you rather say iPod or “Apple portable digital music player”?

Best of all, voip sounds just like the noise Skype makes when someone wants to chat…