Leicester_H Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Hi I thought that TLAs (Three Letter acronyms) were things like CEO etc. but in fact most are initialisms (horrible word!). Apparently an acronym is - a type of abbreviation - word formed from the initial parts (letters OR syllables OR arbitrary parts) of a name. Examples: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) An initialism is - a type of abbreviation - group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter being pronounced separately. For example, "BBC" (British Broadcasting Corporation), or "PBS" (Public Broadcasting System). The key difference between an acronym and an initialism is that an acronym forms a new word, while an initalism does not. Is there another word for inititialism ? - I vaguely recall hearing this distinction before but I'm sure it had a more satisfying name than 'inititialism' H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Blimey - even more pedantic than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 IMHO........NI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Is there another word for inititialism ? - I vaguely recall hearing this distinction before but I'm sure it had a more satisfying name than 'inititialism' Is it alphabetism? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Blimey - even more pedantic than me me too I work in a business where this is rife, and it drives me mad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 We have loads in nursing/ medicine - DNA did not appear, TATT - tired all the time, PR - per rectum etc etc. Some are obvious others are plain baffling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 We have loads in school too and half the time I don't know what they are. It's quite frustrating keep having to ask cos it makes me look like a thicko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 We as teachers are known by our acronyms. Some students even asume it is my actual name... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 My new job is littered with acronyms . It'll take me years to get to grips with them all . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 We used to have loads at work for complicated technologies and equipment. Now we have lots of abbreviations to do with prescriptions and giving drugs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Leia Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 What annoys me more is when journalists seem unable to write acronyms or abbreviations correctly. One paper (mentioning no names but.... DM) now seems to go out of its way to do this, just to annoy readers. Nasa instead of NASA, Darpa instead of DARPA, Unesco instead of UNESCO, you get the drift. Even the BBC got it wrong last week with Nasa - when I pointed it out to them, their response was "it's a social media thing"... No it's not, it's sheer bl***y ignorance and/or laziness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
