At 04:39 PM 12/20/2010, Chris Albertson wrote...
Well I guess we are getting "nuts" about this. Yes OED says "radar
orig. U.S. [f. radio detection and ranging.]" but that does not mean
it is an acronym. OED reserves the term "acronym" for words made
using only the fist letter of each description word. "radar" uses the
first two letters from "radio" and so OED uses only the "f."
Well, the word was a US creation, so the OED really doesn't apply.
Strange how none of the definitions mentions TIME.
Random House says:
"a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words
in a set phrase or series of words, as Wac from Women's Army
Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or
loran from long-range navigation."
Webster's 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; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters "
The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy says:
"A word formed by combining the beginning letters of a name or phrase,
as in WASP for w hite A nglo- S axon P rotestant, or by combining the
initial syllables of a series of words, as in radar, which stands for
ra dio de tecting a nd r anging."
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