acronym, initials, and abbreviation

[Susie Smith]

:D

UsingEnglish.com/glossary/acronym does say acronym is a kind of abbreviation.

That's because acronyms are not a kind of abbreviation. :D

This is what UsingEnglish.com/glossary/acronym says.

"USE

An acronym is a kind of abbreviation. It is a word formed by taking letters from a phrase that is too long to use comfortably.

eg: Laser is an acronym of Light AMplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

If the letters do not make a word, but are pronounced individually, as in the CIA or the BBC, it can be called an initialism."

:)

[bmo]

Initials: LA Is that a person's name? No.

Conclusion: Either there must be a fourth choice out there we don't know about or LA is a kind of initial (i.e. a country's name), like USA.

Thanks. From MSN Encarta:noun (plural in·i·tials) below, LA is initials.

"first letter of a name: the first letter of the name of a person, place, or organization."


BMO

[Ulli]

Acronym - WMD is one, representing weapons of mass destruction. VP for vice president. Correct?

Initials - JFK is John F. Kennedy. Name only?

Abbreviation - CA for california, Penn for pennsylvania. Correct?

1. Is USMC, United States Marine Corps, an acronym or abbreviation?
2. vs. for versus; e.g. for for example and i.e. for that is. What are these? The last two are Latin, but are they abbreviation? These are almost like A.M. and P.M. for morning and afernoon.


Thanks.

BMO

Hi BMO,

What about this site? :wink:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

Ulli

[bmo]

Thanks a lot. I will use it from now on.

BMO

[Ulli]

Hi BMO,

I'm very glad that you like this list. I found when I was searching vor the abbrevation "ZIP code".

Have a good time.

Ulli :wink:

[bmo]

Initials: LA Is that a person's name? No.

Conclusion: Either there must be a fourth choice out there we don't know about or LA is a kind of initial (i.e. a country's name), like USA.

Thanks. From MSN Encarta:noun (plural in·i·tials) below, LA is initials.

"first letter of a name: the first letter of the name of a person, place, or organization."


BMO

I am digging deepper and deeper into this. What do people think about the following:

1. LA (Los Angeles) is an acronym, and since you cannot pronounce it, it is an initialism. Since acronym and initialism are abbreviations, LA is an abbreviation.

2. LA is initials, it is an initials of a place, much like FDR, JFK are initials of names. Initials can be the initials of a name, place or organization.

3. Therefore LA is an acronym, initialism, abbreviation and initials. All 4.

4. My question: is acronym part of initialism or vice versa.

[blacknomi]

My question: is acronym part of initialism or vice versa

.


Hi, BMO.
Would you like to hear my opinion on this subject? I'm not an expert at all but I love to share my thoughts with you. Think this sentence: A is part of B. 'Part' meas a portion, division, piece, or segment of a whole. Therefore, when you say "Is acronym part of initialism?" that sounds not that logical, doesn't it? Take a look at Susie's example:

Acronym = A word formed from the initial letters of a name or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words.All the acronyms above are pronounced as words. When the letters do not form a word that can be pronounced, the letters are pronounced individually. This is called initialism.

Acronym=Acronym+some Initialism

The scope of acronym is more comprehensive than that of Initials. Therefore, saying "Acronym is part of Initialism" sounds fragile, whereas "Initialism is part of acronym" sounds perfect.


Hm, that's my personal opinion. :) 8)

[bmo]

Thanks. Love to hear your opinions.

Both of you are correct to say that acronym encompasses initialism. I became confused when I saw the following:

MSN Encarta on Abbreviation:

4. Acronyms are initialisms that have become words in their own right, and are pronounced as words rather than as a series of letters, for example, AIDS, laser, scuba, UNESCO


I think the correct way to say should be: Acronyms are like initialisms but have become words in their own....

BMO

[Casiopea]

Thanks. Love to hear your opinions.

Both of you are correct to say that acronym encompasses initialism. I became confused when I saw the following:

MSN Encarta on Abbreviation:

4. Acronyms are initialisms that have become words in their own right, and are pronounced as words rather than as a series of letters, for example, AIDS, laser, scuba, UNESCO


I think the correct way to say should be: Acronyms are like initialisms but have become words in their own....

BMO

It seems to me that the problem here is with semantics. If an array of words are reformed using the initial letter of each word, and the resulting form does not spell out a new word (i.e. AIDS, UNESCO) then it's an initial:

EX: Los Angeles => LA (initial)

As for "Abbreviation", there are two meanings here:

1. verb to abbreviate, to shorten

2. noun abbreviation, a word formation process whereby a word or words are shortened to one or more consonant-consonant or consonant-vowel sequences,

EX: abbreviation => abbrev.

In short, AIDS, LA, and Abbrev. are all shortenings. The first spells out a new word, so it's an acronym. The second does not spell out a new word, but it's a name, so it's an initial. The last one does not spell out a new word, and it's neither a person's name or a company's name, or a name, so it's an abbreviation. :D

Acronym: spells out a new word, that is, a word different from the original array of words.
Abbreviation: doesn't spell out a new word, and involves letters other than the initial letters.
Initial: doesn't spell out a new word, and involves initial letters only.

Double the fun
Bill Orlean Boswell => BOB (initials & acronym)

[bmo]

Okay,

1. Acronyms are new words that can be pronounced as word. AIDS, UNESCO, Scuba, Radio, NAACP and Laser are in this cateory.

2. Initialisms are initial letters of words. TGIF, CIA, DOD, BTW, LOL, AM and PM are in this category, and are pronounced as separate letters.

3. Initials are first letters of names (person, company, organization).

4. Abbreviations are shortened form of the original word, such as prof., Misc.

5. Contractions are can't, don't, Mr., and Mrs., amt. etc.

6. Only acronyms are word.

7. All of the above are abbreviations.

Questions: Are #2 and #3 the same? Where do you put TGIF, TLC?

Thanks.

BMO