*BSD News Article 97427


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From: eric@gadgetguru.com (Eric O'Dell)
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: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 16:10:24 GMT
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On Thu, 05 Jun 1997 07:49:01 -0700, Michael Sierchio <xhqmh@qanv.pbz>
wrote:

>Mike Ellis wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
>Speaking authoritatively means you should be right,  but you know not
>whereof you speak.  A "pronounceable" acronym is what you describe, and
>while in the US Armed Forces, many have spent sleepless nights coming
>up with acronyms that met the pronounceable requirement.
>
>The definition of acronym, since you are too lazy or proud to
>consult a dictionary:
>
>acronym
>
>Merriam-Webster's CollegiateŽ Dictionary
>
>ac.ro.nym n [acr- + -onym] (1943): a word (as radar or snafu) formed from the
>initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a
>compound term -- ac.ro.nym.ic adj -- ac.ro.nym.i.cal.ly adv 

If you read the above definition carefully, it begins with "a *word*
formed from...", which certainly implies pronounceability, as do the
two examples given. If an "acronym" is unpronounceable, then it is not
an acronym at all, but a member of the more general class of
abbreviations.


E.