In section 9.2.1, it says:
> Western languages make extensive use of acronyms such as "GmbH",
> "NATO", and "F.B.I.", as well as abbreviations like "M.", "Inc.",
> "et al.", "etc.".
"GmbH" and "FBI" are not acronyms.
It goes on to say:
> For example, while "IRS" and "BBC" are typically pronounced letter by
> letter, "NATO" and "UNESCO" are pronounced phonetically.
That is the difference between an acronym and an initialism. "NATO" and
"UNESCO" would be suitable for <acronym>, whereas "IRS" and "BBC" should
not be put inside <acronym>, because they are not acronyms (<abbr> must
be used instead). Neither are the other examples acronyms, URI and SQL
(unless perhaps there really are people somewhere in the world who
pronounce URI "you-ree").
I'm not just being pedantic, anyone reading the spec as it stands would
be seriously misled about the proper use of <abbr> vs <acronym>.
I note that unfortunately <acronym> seems to have disappeared in HTML5.
