16 Comments
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Bruce Jones's avatar

I don't know for sure, but I think the phone company (BELL) had nearly as many incomprehensible acronyms :-)

Durgadas P Kasbekar's avatar

Aid for coining really odd names for your mission (ACRONYM)

(by Vijay Mahajan)

Graham's avatar

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a research project in need of funds must be in search of a terrific acronym,” is a reference to Jane Austen's opening line in Pride and Prejudice": "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Steve Conklin's avatar

You make the common mistake of calling Initialisms as Acronymns. DNA and FFP are not acronyms.

Mike Mellor's avatar

Google AI Overview: An acronym is a word formed from the first letters (or syllables) of a phrase or compound term, pronounced as a single word (e.g., NASA, RADAR, SCUBA).

Mirrian-Webster: a word (such 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 (such as FBI) formed from initial letters : initialism.

The Finns have a rude word for making unnecessarily fine distinctions.

Steve Conklin's avatar

AI is wrong. An initialism is not an acronym. They are distinct.

Maksim Raskolnikov's avatar

SC ( also known as Steve Conklin) is AOANGTPOTA !

(Astonishingly Obtuse And Not Getting The Point Of The Article.)

Because: TAOANEILTRNT !

( The Acronym or Abbreviation NOT Explained is Like The Road Never Traveled.)

Clearly: ATMAATD !

( And that made all the difference. )

Can you all see that it is the complete UNWILLINGNESS to explain the acronyms and abbreviations, that is the actual problem. Any student who throws

around unexplained stuff, should automatically get an F!

Why? Because there is a difference between COMMUNICATING and wrapping your beehive in a shroud of secrecy! Teaching, learning, reason, knowledge, science is

first and foremost about good COMMUNICATION skills.

Steve Conklin's avatar

My Google ai says this "Pronounced as a Word: Unlike initialisms, acronyms are read as words (e.g., NATO) rather than individual letters."

Maksim Raskolnikov's avatar

That distinction does not matter. If the acronym or abbreviation cannot be deciphered by the reader, then the main purpose of either one is not achieved. As the article stated, only about 0.2% of acronyms are understood, because they are repeated often, and are explained numerous times. NATO and DNA are two examples of an acronym that has been provided in its full clear text. It simply is dumb to use unexplained acronyms or abbreviations.

Neal Umphred's avatar

I am old enough to remember the good old days (pre-internet, probably), when I could have corrected you by pointing out that UA and ED are not acronyms, merely abbreviations. or initialisms.

Ah, those good old days ...

Randy Chambers's avatar

Acronyms are all about creating jargon to satisfy ones pretentious pride within his/her organization. The more acronyms one knows, the greater the standing within the organization.

Maksim Raskolnikov's avatar

Well, any scientist, or doctor, or software person, or other such people, who dare to use acronyms without at the very least providing an INDEX with EXPLANATIONS of every ACRONYM used in the text (whereby it would be wrong, bad, forbidden to use any other unexplained acronym in the very INDEX of acronyms), should be suffering severe financial punishments, or may be should be shot

to Mars or deep into the heart of Uranus. It is a mere lack of common courtesy and decency that causes this AAAWE (Absurd Addiction to Acronyms Without Explanations).

Mark M. Carey's avatar

Only those that can be pronounced as new articulable words are acronyms. The rest are simply initialisms. Clearly this article was written by a science major not an English major.

Caitlin McLaren's avatar

I began my career as a scientist and then switched to Education. If you think science uses a lot of acronyms, whole sentences are made of acronyms by teachers!

Rough Son's avatar

NEWS - North East West South

Television- Tell a Vision

jerry's avatar

TACO, and now NACHO