On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:06:56 -0000, "Geoff Pearson"
wrote:


"Peter Duncanson" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:39:19 -0000, "Geoff Pearson"
wrote:


"Geoff Pearson" wrote in message
...

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

{font }{fontsize }In article ,
Geoff Pearson wrote:
An acronym is a word that is recognised in its own right, like laser,
maser, radar, sonar, Spam. It is not a cluster of pronounceable
capital
letters - like NATO or LOL.


Collins GEM English Dictionary
acronym n. word formed from the initial letters of other words, such
as
NATO.

--
*If they arrest the Energizer Bunny, would they charge it with battery?
*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

OK - I yield.



Actually I don't yield. The Shorter Oxford says: "a word formed from the
initial letters or parts of other words; loosely an abbreviation composed
of
initial letters". Curiously it gives usage of acronym as a verb,
adjective
and adverb, as well as noun.

But there is not much between us on this.

In American English "acronym" means a groups of initials pronounced as a
a word. A set of initials spoken as individual letters is an
"initialism". So, NASA is an acronym and NBC is an initialism.

In British English "acronym" has been used loosely to include
initialisms as well as initials spoken as words.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

"Initialism" - a American neologism - useful but not euphonious.

It may be relatively new but not necessarily introduced by Americans.

The earliest quotation using it in the OED is:

1899 R. Thomas in N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 103/1 In my 'Handbook'
I give an initialism of Mr. Watts's, 'P. P. C. R.'

N & Q is Notes and Queries a journal published in England. It still
exists:
http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_and_Queries


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

Geoff Pearson wrote:

"Initialism" - a American neologism - useful but not euphonious.

Does that mean, 'sounds like a euphonium'?

Bill