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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!nntprelay.mathworks.com!news.mathworks.com!news1.best.com!nntp2.ba.best.com!not-for-mail From: Michael Hogsett <mcgrude@hogsoft.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 19:28:15 -0700 Organization: http://www.hogsoft.com/people/mcgrude Lines: 49 Message-ID: <3396243F.1DE9@hogsoft.com> References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <5l37jg$87j$1@wuff.mayn.de> <5l7jvt$q8b$10@halon.vggas.com> <33776BE4.6883@ford.com> <337C64F0.41C6@cs.ucc.ie> <5lsbv4$id8@bmtlh10.bnr.ca> <3383FA57.4855@uab.ericsson.se> <EAMxy9.EF4@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> <3390a559.4210811@news.dircon.co.uk> <3392FE4F.1667@att.com> <5mvqtk$ml6$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU> Reply-To: mcgrude@hogsoft.com NNTP-Posting-Host: hogsoft.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Win95; I) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.shell:45709 comp.os.linux.misc:178782 comp.os.linux.x:63477 alt.os.linux:21886 comp.unix.bsd.misc:3498 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:42394 gnu.misc.discuss:31635 comp.unix.solaris:108631 Annelise Anderson wrote: > > In comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Allen Kirby <akirby@att.com> wrote: > > Mike Ellis wrote: > > <snip> > > > Sorry to spoil the fun but these are not acronyms. An acronym is an > > > abbreviation which can be pronounced as if it were a word. How on > > > earth does one pronounce tcsh ? Most TLAs (three letter acronyms) are > > > not TLAs at all. In fact TLA is not a TLA itself. > > > Wrong. Acronyms are words created from the first letters of other > > words, such as: > > > FBI,MRI,IBM,FDA,FAA,AT&T > > > Some are pronouncable, like RADAR, but it's the exception. If what you > > say is correct, none of the words above would be acronyms. And they're > > certainly not abbreviations, so what are they? > > > They're acronyms. > > 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. > > If you want to call .cshrc "c-shark", then I suppose it's half an > acronym.... :) > > Annelise > > -- > > --- > > Allen Kirby AT&T ITS Production Services > > akirby@att.com Alpharetta, GA. I would have to agree with you Allen. This is how my Oxford American Dictionary defines acronym : ac.ro.nym (ak-ro-nim) n. a word formed from the initial letters of other words, as NATO, RADAR. We could also add NASA to this. Michael F. Hogsett <mcgrude@hosgfoft.com> -- There is more to monitors than meets the eye.