🚀 go-pugleaf

Roger Espel Llima wrote:
> 
> 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

Interesting that this has actually turned into a meta-thread.
Arguing about the definition of the subject instead of contributing
to it.