[ubuntu-uk] acronyms?

Tony Arnold tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk
Tue Nov 7 09:09:07 GMT 2006


Sean,

Sean Miller wrote:

>>> 1. 	a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words 
>>> in a set phrase or series of words, as /Wac/ from /Women's Army Corps,/ 
>>> /OPEC/ from /Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,/ or /loran/ 
>>> from /long-range navigation./
>>>
>>>
>>> So, how precisely can JFDI and LW2A be said to not be acronyms?
>>>     
>> Because they are not words?
>>   
> "Just f##king do it" .. "Let's wait to agree"... where are the non-words?

No JFDI and LW2A are not words. In the definition above WAC, OPEC and
LORAN are all pronounceable words in their own right. JFDI and LW2A are
not pronounceable and one has a digit in it, so surely they cannot be words!

> It is unimportant, obviously, but I'm just interested in why people 
> think those aren't acronyms as I would argue they are great examples of 
> the genre...

You're quite right, it's not that important. To be honest, I'd call them
acronyms too, but in the strictest definition of an acronym, maybe they
aren't quite.

Regards,
Tony.
-- 
Tony Arnold, IT Security Coordinator, University of Manchester,
IT Services Division, Kilburn Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL.
T: +44 (0)161 275 6093, F: +44 (0)870 136 1004, M: +44 (0)773 330 0039
E: tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk, H: http://www.man.ac.uk/Tony.Arnold



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