[Magdalen] Acronyms and initialisms (was TECnical question)

[Allan Carr]

Since I've never heard TEC pronounced, but have only read it,  what i read
is pronounced tech.

On Mon, May 4, 2015 at 12:21 PM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:

> 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
>>
>>
>


-- 
Allan Carr