[bl] Acronym vs Initialism

Wed Jun 26 10:54:47 EDT 2002

CD-ROM is an initialism that's partially not spelled out -- so does it 
cease to be an intialism and become an acronym?

GUI swings both ways -- so what is it?

THX is pronounced by spelling but, I believe, isn't an initialism of any words.

Was DVD always an initialism?

Peter

At 09:42 AM 6/26/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Alrighty then. Challenge my word integrity will you? Foolish mortal!
>
><clue-by-four>
>
> From the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1998:
>
>initialism
>n. a group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or
>expression, each letter being pronounced separately, e.g. CBC
>(compare ACRONYM)
>
></clue-by-four>
>
>I like red wine, dark chocolate, and flowers. And public apologies.
>;^)
>
>elizabeth j., the wicked
>--
>Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
>- Sir Arthur C. Clarke
>
>
>
> > From: Robert Rivers <corsair@samurai.com>
> > Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 08:46:51 -0400 (EDT)
> > To: List o' Bryan <bryans-list@lists.samurai.com>
> > Subject: Re: [bl] Acronym vs
> >
> > initialism ?
> >
> > You just made that up! :)
> >
> > ---
> > Robert
> > /*\
> > \ /  Join the ASCII ribbon campaign
> > X   to end HTML mail.
> > / \
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 24 Jun 2002, elizabeth j. allen wrote:
> >
> >> He is only partially correct: an acronym is a *word* formed from parts of
> >> other words. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an acronym. 
> So is
> >> modem (modulator/demodulator). Notice that modem is more than just the
> >> initial letters of the underlying words.
> >>
> >> FBI is not, however, an abbreviation nor an acronym. It is an <.i>
> >> initialism <./i>. So he's wrong.
> >>
> >> elizabeth j.
> >> --
> >> "Before you can understand recursion,
> >> you must first understand recursion."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: Peter Bayes <peterb@interlog.com>
> >>> Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 13:18:09 -0400
> >>> To: bryans-list@samurai.com
> >>> Subject: Re: [bl] Acronym vs
> >>>
> >>> <lurk_mode = off>
> >>> I don't think pronounceability defines an acronym.
> >>> An acronym is a word (spelled out or pronounced) constructed from
> >>> representative letters from (usually) two or more words. It's a 
> convenient
> >>> form of abbreviation. 'Abbrev.' is an abbreviation not an acronym.
> >>>
> >>> Just because we don't pronounce FBI or TLA as words doesn't mean we
> >>> couldn't. (F'bi sounds African and T'La sounds Vulcan.). After all people
> >>> *do* pronounce SCSI (scuzzy) and SPEBSQSA (suhpebsquisa).
> >>>
> >>> As an occasional abecedarian, I think FOTWHAAR (Fred's off-track with his
> >>> Acronym/Abbreviation Ramblings).
> >>>
> >>> Peter
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> <lurk_mode=on>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> At 12:27 PM 6/24/02 -0400, you wrote:
> >>>> A while ago, I read one of my newsletters where the author was 
> describing
> >>>> TLA as "Three letter abbreviation".  I thought to myself that is was 
> "three
> >>>> letter acronym" and "almost" sent him a reply.  However, food was 
> served,
> >>>> and I was distracted.
> >>>>
> >>>> This week, he addresses the issue in his column, as at least one other
> >>>> reader obviously did reply.  His reply fooled me.  I learn something new
> >>>> all the time.  I present his answer here, for any of you who may have
> >>>> believed (as did I) that TLA is for acronyms!  aha!
> >>>>
> >>>> As an aside.  I know a John Martin.  He's an idiot.  I wonder if 
> it's the
> >>>> same guy.  Hmmmm...
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> ----------
> >>>> Acronym Vs Abbreviation
> >>>>
> >>>> We recently discussed KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) switches. See
> >>>> http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=kvm&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 .
> >>>> But the email discussions that I had with several readers about KVMs
> >>>> took an odd language-related turn that might be helpful to others---
> >>>> after all, we all must wade through a morass of jargon, abbreviations,
> >>>> and acronyms in dealing with computers. In fact, in the KVM coverage, I
> >>>> stated how it was one of many TLAs--- Three Letter Abbreviations--- we
> >>>> have to deal with. That remark prompted this:
> >>>>
> >>>> Dear Fred, Let me start off by saying I enjoy reading your
> >>>> newsletter very much. However, I noticed that you had confused
> >>>> the word Abbreviation with Acronym in item one of your May
> >>>> 16th edition. KVM is an acronym (a word formed from the
> >>>> initial letters of a name) and not an abbreviation (a
> >>>> shortened form of a word or phrase). TLA in itself is an
> >>>> acronym for Three Letter Acronym not abbreviation. Being
> >>>> former military I was exposed to an enormous amount of both
> >>>> abbreviations and acronyms. Its easy to get confused. Again,
> >>>> thanks for a great resource of information and entertainment.
> >>>> --- John Martin
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks, John, but I don't think that's quite it:
> >>>> An acronym is an abbreviation that can be pronounced AS A WORD. For
> >>>> example, the disease AIDS is pronounced "aids," not "Ay Eye Dee Ess."
> >>>> Thus, "AIDS" is a true acronym. Likewise, NASA is spoken as a word, it's
> >>>> not pronounced "En Ay Ess Ay;" it too is a true acronym.
> >>>> In contrast, no one tries to say "FBI" as a word. It's pronounced "Eff
> >>>> Bee Eye;" it's an abbreviation (for Federal Bureau of Investigation),
> >>>> not an acronym.
> >>>>
> >>>> Computing has its share of acronyms--- "RAM" is pronounced as a word,
> >>>> and not as "Are Ay Em," for example. SCSI is pronounced "scuzzy," not
> >>>> "Ess See Ess Eye." Modem (derived from "MOdulator/DEModulator") is
> >>>> pronounced as a word, not spoken as the letters "Em Oh Dee Ee Em."
> >>>> Some computing terms are hybrids. When you talk about a "Graphical User
> >>>> Interface" you can refer to it either by the acronym GUI (pronounced
> >>>> "gooey") or as the abbreviation "Gee You Eye." And so on.
> >>>> But KVM is never spoken as a word, It's pronounced "Kay Vee Em."
> >>>> Likewise LCD is pronounced "El See Dee;" and CD-R is "See Dee Are." For
> >>>> that matter, TLA is pronounced "Tee El Ay." They and many others--- CPU,
> >>>> USB, URL, etc.--- all are abbreviations, not acronyms.
> >>>>
> >>>> OK4U? <g>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Jeff Goebel
> >>>> -  Internet Hosting. Support, and Design
> >>>> (416) 580-3549
> >>>> (877) 580-3549
> >>>> (905) 275-5323 [Fax]
> >>>>
> >>>> http://frogstar.com
> >>>>
> >>>> ICQ #9729896     u?u,)
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> .
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> bryans-list mailing list
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