Curse of the Acronym
Curse of the Acronym
When an acronym is NOT an 'acronym'
We briefly interrupt our regularly-scheduled shenanigans for this important announcement: If you are on social media it is possible - perhaps even likely - that you are using the word ‘acronym’ incorrectly.
Since everyone desperately wants to sound intelligent on the WWW (not an acronym, BTW - and, for the record, neither is ‘BTW’), here is some knowledge that will impress your friends and baffle your enemies.
The traditional definition (the one found in dictionaries unspoiled by modern word-predators) says that an acronym is, “an abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word.”
Words such as RADAR, NASA, SCUBA, AIDS and GIF are each a collection of initials, yet when said-initials are mashed together they make actual words which can be, and are, pronounced. These… are acronyms.
FYI, on the other hand, is not a traditional acronym. Neither is FBI, OMG, CDC, USB, or LOL (unless you happen to go around saying ‘lull’ for laughing out loud - if so, seek professional help).
Each of those is an example of an initialism, meaning “an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as separate letters;” these do not, when joined into one group, make up anything that resembles a word - they are just individual letters spoken together.
Now that we understand this let us work together to retake the English language from the marauding hordes rampaging the once-great, once-intelligent cyber-plains.
Educate your loved ones, skewer (metaphorically, of course; do not literally impale) those who challenge you - especially the self-righteous ‘grammar Nazis’ - and we shall reclaim the words!
And that concludes this unnecessary but satisfying rant; we now return you to regularly-scheduled shenanigans.
[Note 1 (05/22/2022): This an old ‘Medium’ blog of mine; I have spruced it up for a repost here. Note 2 (12/02/2023): Updated again, to refresh definitions, links, and format.]
Stay in the loop, and fight social-media suppression! Subscribe to The Stone Age today!
BONUS TRACK: From “Notes”…