🚀 go-pugleaf

Kevin Mulholland (kevin@dvstsol.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: Just so we can put this part of the thread to rest
 
[ Quote from Jargon File ]
 
Sorry but that doesn't put it to rest.  I've been a fan of the Jargon File
for years and have even contributed a few entries.  I've sent email to Eric
Raymond suggesting that the definition of TLA be modified to mention the
difference between an acronym and an abbreviation and also note that most
hackers are at least mildly aware of this distinction but choose to ignore
it in typical hackish fashion.

It's sort of like the way hackers use the word "baud" to mean "bits per
second" even when they know that if someone cornered them on it they'd have
to fess up and admit that that's not the precise definition of the term.
The jargon file definition of "baud" mentions this.

Long story short, Eric never got back to me.  Maybe he's sticking to the
belief that it's OK to refer to unpronounceable three-letter-abbreviations
as acronyms.  But then again maybe he just didn't feel like wading into the
issue.

Now that I think about it, I actually had a friend in college who would
pronounce every three-letter-abbreviation as if it were a word.  To him,
IBM was "ib-bum" and a BBS was a "bu-bus".  Of course we all thought he was
a loser for doing this, but at least he was being intellectually consitent.

One more thing...  In Scrabble you can use an acronym (like laser or NASA)
because acronyms are words.  But you can't use abbreviations just like you
can't use proper nouns.

Actually I guess you can't use NASA.  =:-o
 
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Richard S. Smith / rsmith@netcom.com / http://www.captech.com/~rss |
| Progress(tm) 4gl v[678] Developer/DBA / Los Gatos, California, USA | 
| The PROGRESS FAQ --> http://www.captech.com/~rss/progress-faq.html |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+