We should rename this list to LOD - List Of Digression...
Thanks, Jim Weidt Senior Systems Engineer Jostens Inc. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail communication and any attached documentation may be privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure and is intended only for the use of the designated recipient(s). It is not intended for transmission to, or receipt by, any unauthorized person. The use, distribution, transmittal or retransmittal by an unintended recipient of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please delete it from your system without copying it and notify the above sender. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of john gilmore Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 12:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Tax chooses dead language - Australia 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 _________________________________________________________________ Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
