Re: [OT] Re: [libreoffice-users] HSLQLDB syntax

At 16:15 16/07/2013 -0400, Felmon Davis wrote:
> On Tue, 16 Jul 2013, Brian Barker wrote:
> > At 02:02 16/07/2013 -0400, Felmon Davis wrote:
> > > On Sun, 14 Jul 2013, Doug wrote:
> > > > This is not an acronym. It can't be pronounced as a word. (See 
> > > > dictionary definition in URL below.)
> > > the definition says:
> > > -----
> > >  : a word (as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial 
> > > letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts 
> > > of a compound term; [...]
> > > -----
> > > I'm missing the part about being pronounced as a word.
> >
> > May I help?  I think I can.  It's right there in the second word of 
> > the definition: it says it's a *word*, so it'll be pronounced as, er, a word!
>
> ah, now I see where that comes from!
>
> deviates from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym> which counts 
> the following formations as acronyms:
>
>     BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation
>     OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer
>     USA: The United States of America
>     FGM: Female Genital Mutilation
>
> or maybe it doesn't deviate after all since they can also be 
> pronounced as words (any string of initials can).

Oh no: they are indeed examples of initialisms that are not 
pronounced as words, so are not what I call acronyms.  But to be fair 
to Wikipedia, it does explain the distinction further up, but then 
says it will not follow it in the rest of the article:

> Although the term _acronym_ is widely used to refer to any 
> abbreviation formed from initial letters, some dictionaries define 
> _acronym_ to mean "a word" in its original sense, while some others 
> include additional senses attributing to _acronym_ the same meaning 
> as that of _initialism_. The distinction, when made, hinges on 
> whether the abbreviation is pronounced as a word, or as a string of 
> letters. In such cases, examples found in dictionaries include 
> _NATO_, _scuba_, and _radar_ for acronyms, and _FBI_ and _HTML_ for 
> initialisms. In the rest of this article, this distinction is not made.

> I'm going to let Anne-ology make the call.

Oh, we are all entitled to speak and write as we wish, of course.

Brian Barker


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