[Magdalen] Acronyms and initialisms (was TECnical question)

[Jim Guthrie]

>> On Mon, May 4, 2015, at 01:00 PM, Mahoney, W. Michael wrote:
>> Note that some acronyms get "spelled out"; OMB and DoD are examples.
>> Others get pronounced as words; NASA is example.  My guess is that if
>> "TEC"
>> ever came into common usage (and I hope it doesn't), it would be spelled
>> out.

Considering that people speak of BART in San Francisco, the MTA in NY and 
elsewhere, the MBTA in Boston, MARTA in Atlanta, SEPTA in Philadelphia and many 
have insurance through GEICO or the Triple A, not to mention things like RICO 
Laws, what makes a church so special in American Culture that it can’t use an 
acronym --even internally?

Cheers,
Jim


>
> That fact leads to some warring of words in this household. My beloved
> makes a distinction between acronyms and initialisms and insists that
> they are two separate categories. If they are pronounced as words, they
> are acronyms; if they are not, they are initialisms. I maintain that
> initialism is the term for that subset of acronyms which are spelled
> out, but that all initialisms are acronyms, too.
>
> I suspect neither of us will ever budge from our positions.
>
> Kristin
>
> -- 
>  Kristin Rollins
>  kristin at verumsolum.com
>  Portsmouth, VA
>