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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!uunet!in3.uu.net!130.207.244.18!gatech!nntprelay.mathworks.com!news.mathworks.com!europa.clark.net!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!dailyplanet.srl.ford.com!eccws1.dearborn.ford.com!news From: Vince Scarafino <vscarafi@ford.com> 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 Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list? Date: Wed, 04 Jun 1997 16:17:25 -0400 Organization: Ford Motor Company Lines: 34 Message-ID: <3395CD55.8CA@ford.com> References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <3390a559.4210811@news.dircon.co.uk> <3392FE4F.1667@att.com> <5mvqtk$ml6$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU> <5n2phh$jda@cicsun.univ-bpclermont.fr> Reply-To: vscarafi@ford.com NNTP-Posting-Host: pms045.pms.ford.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01C (Win95; I) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.shell:45708 comp.os.linux.misc:178775 comp.os.linux.x:63474 alt.os.linux:21885 comp.unix.bsd.misc:3496 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:42392 gnu.misc.discuss:31634 comp.unix.solaris:108626 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.