Abbreviations used on this site
For newbies such as ourselves, it could be a bit frustrating learning the more common abbreviations used on this forum. Here is a start of a list. Feel free to contribute more. 4 DOWN = Vehicle...
Forum Discussion
sch911 wrote:
They are acronyms not abbreviations!
Schnoo,
Many would argue... Including my wife that taught English at college level.
ac·ro·nym noun \?a-kr?-?nim\
: a WORD formed from the first letters of each one of the words in a phrase.
Therefore, if it can't be pronounced on its own (without adding vowel sounds) it isn't a word and does not qualify as an acronym, but it can be an abbreviation.
NATO is an acronym.
TOAD is an acronym.
NHSTA is almost.
USN is an abbreviation.
CTD is an abbreviation.
BTDT is an abbreviation.
As a good friend used to label lots of things as TLA, he would have to watch what he was describing as some were Three Letter Abbreviations and some are Three Letter Acronyms.
I sailed lots of long passages with a man that was one of the countries few registered semanticist. Lawyers came to him to ask what the words meant.
Matt
