Re: [xml-dev] XML Buzzwords. RFC

[Tom Bradford <bradford@dbxmlgroup.com>]

Stuart Celarier wrote:
> 
> While we seem to be in a nit-pick mood, can we please distinguish between
> abbreviation and acronym? XML, XPath, W3C, HTTP, IBM, and even etc. are all
> abbreviations. An acronym is an abbreviation that is pronounced like a word,
> such as NATO (pronounced 'nay-toh') which is an abbreviation for the North
> Atlantic Treaty Organization. The UN is not the 'un', XML is not pronounced
> 'ks-mil', and XPath is not (IMHO) an abbreviation per se.

Actually, an acronym is a word (nym) formed from the beginning (acro)
letters of a set of words.  Being a word doesn't actually require that
it be pronounceable phonetically.  IOU is a word that's not pronounced
phonetically, but is an acronym.

http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=acronym

After all, especially in English, there are no definitive phonetic rules
for how any particular word should be pronounced.  XSLT and XML are
definitely acronyms because they qualify as such, and they're also
abbreviations.  They're even in the acronym finder:

http://www.acronymfinder.com 

You nit-pick, I know.  My wife got her masters in English and assures me
that an acronym doesn't have to be a mnemonic device.

-- Tom