>> Abbreviation: Mr. >> Acronym: SCUBA >> Initialism: FBI > > I don't see the distinction between acronym (which I understand), and > initialism (which sounds like a made up word). Both are acronyms. Acronyms, > depending upon the "coined" usage, is either pronounced as a word or as > individual letters. The difference in which, is usually (but not always) > based on whether it has a word form to it. > > APA ... pronounced A-P-A > AMPA ... pronounced Am-Pa > > Both are acronyms as far as I am concerned. >
FWIW, Grammar Girl did a podcast on this: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/acronyms-grammar.aspx which references: http://juicystudio.com/article/abbreviations-acronyms.php Mark W. ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [cs...@lists.css-discuss.org] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
