Nigel Hadfield writes
BBC is an abbreviation, not an acronym.
There is no viable way to distinguish abbreviations and acronyms.
Traditionally, acronyms were viewed as a pronounceable subset of
abbreviations; and this distinction certainly makes BBC an abbreviation and
COBOL an acronym. But is BSOD, 'Blue Screen of Death' an abbreviation and
not an acronym? I think not. (Some languages do give heavy weight to
pronounceability. Italian is the obvious example; and in it 'Cassa di
Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde' becomes 'Cariplo'; but English, whether
British or American, has no such preoccupation.)
What is clear is that there are different dialect-, language- and even
culture- and class-based conventions embodied in different groups' acronym-
and abbreviation-construction schemes. Moreover, these differences mean
that criticisms of other people's schemes always go wrong. They reify one
man's provincial notions into universal truths.
John Gilmore
Ashland, MA 01721-1817
USA
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