Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?

Article View: comp.unix.shell

Article #4302

#4302

From: Roger Espel Llima
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 00:00

31 lines
2484 bytes

In article <5mvqtk$ml6$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU>,
Annelise Anderson  <andrsn@andrsn.stanford.edu> wrote:
>No, they're abbreviations.  eff-bee-eye is not a word, except in some
>programming sense in which it has white space on either side of it.
>
>The abbreviation for the United Nations is UN, pronouced you-enn;
>it's not pronounced "un" as in "undecided."  Therefore UN is an
>abbreviation, not an acronym.  tar is an acronym.

webster doesn't seem to agree with your definitions:

$ webster acronym
ac.ro.nym \'ak-r*-.nim\ n [acr- + -onym (as in homonym)] : a word (as 
   radar, snafu) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the 
   successive parts or major parts of a compound term

$ webster abbreviation
ab.bre.vi.a.tion \*-.bre--ve--'a--sh*n\ n 1: the act or result of 
   abbreviating : ABRIDGMENT  2: a shortened form of a word or phrase used for 
   brevity esp. in writing in  place of the whole


in other words, taking the first letter of a bunch of words makes an
acronym.  shortening a word makes an abbreviation.


	Roger
-- 
e-mail: espel@llaic.univ-bpclermont.fr, espel@unix.bigots.org
WWW page & PGP key: http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/espel/index.html

Technical Details

Message-ID: <5n2phh$jda@cicsun.univ-bpclermont.fr>

Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!unknown!not-for-mail

References:

<5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <3390a559.4210811@news.dircon.co.uk> <3392FE4F.1667@att.com> <5mvqtk$ml6$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU>

Show Full Headers

Complete Article Headers

X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: 1103af,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gid1103af,public
X-Google-Thread: 10eb3b,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gid10eb3b,public
X-Google-Thread: 11035d,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gid11035d,public
X-Google-Thread: 1025b4,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gid1025b4,public
X-Google-Thread: faa64,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gidfaa64,public
X-Google-Thread: f4bda,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gidf4bda,public
X-Google-Thread: fa705,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gidfa705,public
X-Google-Thread: 1012a6,3d362ec564ebdcba
X-Google-Attributes: gid1012a6,public
From: espel@llaic.univ-bpclermont.fr (Roger Espel Llima)
Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?
Date: 1997/06/04
Message-ID: <5n2phh$jda@cicsun.univ-bpclermont.fr>
X-Deja-AN: 245981417
Distribution: inet
References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <3390a559.4210811@news.dircon.co.uk> <3392FE4F.1667@att.com> <5mvqtk$ml6$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU>
Organization: LLAIC, Univ. Clermont-Ferrand 1, France
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.x,alt.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.solaris

Reply to Parent Message