Acronyms

The Wikipedia article on acronyms says there's controversy over what constitutes an acronym. I say radar, scuba and NATO are acronyms while FBI, LCD and VCR are initialisms. What say you?

I'd say they are both the same: They are all derived from the first letter of a string of words. Where I see differences between what you cite as acronyms and initialisms is that your acronyms lend themselves easily to pronunciations, thereby becoming part of the spoken word while your initialisms don't.

Here in Joisey we have another popular acronym: Bohica, Bend Over. Here It Comes Again.

Always liked Bohica. What abbout TANSTAAFL? That's an abbreviation, though, isn't it?

Laser used to an acronym and now is a common word.

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

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Originally Posted by JohnMichael

Laser used to an acronym and now is a common word.

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Out here in jersey, due to it's common and constant usage, so is bohica.

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Originally Posted by Auricauricle

Always liked Bohica. What abbout TANSTAAFL? That's an abbreviation, though, isn't it?

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Since it's made up of only the leading letters of each word in the phrase, I'd consider it an acronym.

I'd call abbreviations ashortening of a single word to as few characters as possible. I'd say that examples of abberviations would be words like Mr., Mrs,, etc...

Acronyms vs. Initialisms.

For what it's worth, in all my years of studying English I've never heard of initialisms. I had to Google it. The best definition that I could find is that Acronyms are sounded as words while Initialisms are pronounced as letters. This would make audionoobs originating post correct.

If we can accept these definitions as correct then Bohica would be an acronym.

Initialism....About as bad a word as signage (eeech!).

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

Acronyms vs. Initialisms.

For what it's worth, in all my years of studying English I've never heard of initialisms. I had to Google it. The best definition that I could find is that Acronyms are sounded as words while Initialisms are pronounced as letters. This would make audionoobs originating post correct.

If we can accept these definitions as correct then Bohica would be an acronym.

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But I'd go a bit further and say that initialisms are a subset of acronyms.

I had to look up the definition of Bohica, then I realized I'd seen it before in the fine print at the bottom of my tax return....

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Originally Posted by kexodusc

I had to look up the definition of Bohica, then I realized I'd seen it before in the fine print at the bottom of my tax return....

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Oooh, good one. Two more kexticles for you, if I may be so bold.

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How 'bout Snafu or Jafo or Fubar? Always thought they oughtta be in the OED.

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

Oooh, good one. Two more kexticles for you, if I may be so bold.

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You, M' lady, are a very good girl. Keep up the good work.

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Originally Posted by Auricauricle

How 'bout Snafu or Jafo or Fubar? Always thought they oughtta be in the OED.

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By the time an acronym starts getting written in lower case, it's probably on its way to making the dictionary.

Good point! And markw, you're probably right with your definition of abbreviations. Obviously, I was not an English major!

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Originally Posted by Auricauricle

Good point! And markw, you're probably right with your definition of abbreviations. Obviously, I was not an English major!

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Yeah, no sh!t dumbass!

Ooops, wrong thread. :o

Hey Rich, isn't there a school in Texas named Sam Houston Institute of Technology?

I'm not sure, but it may be affiliated with Fuque U!