Re: [xml-dev] R: Re: [xml-dev] Is "XML" an abbreviation or an acronym?

[Jim Melton <jim.melton@acm.org>]

Ummm...SQL is *not* an abbreviation *or* an acronym, at least from 
the viewpoint of the international (and ANSI) standard for the language.

Several products have names that include "SQL" and say that the 
letters stand for something, usually "Structured Query Language" 
(sometimes "Standard Query Language").

When people insist to me that it must be an acronym, I tell them 
(inspired by GNU) that it stands for "SQL Query Language", which is 
IMHO an acronym and not an abbreviation.

So there! ;^)
    Jim


At 8/24/2008 11:23 AM, fmeschini@tin.it wrote:
> >The XML specification, http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/REC-xml-20060816/
>starts with,
> >Extensible Markup Language, abbreviated XML, describes
>...
> >So the spec says, it's an abbreviation ...
>
>Probably because
>'acronymied' is a little bit of a cacophony, and to write 'abbreviated
>through the acronym' was too complex of a sentence.
>
>Technically XML is
>an acronym, as GNU, SQL, FAT, BBC or TARDIS are. Probably we should
>discuss whehter an 'acronym' is a subtype of the more general
>'abbreviation' type which is at the same time disjointed from the
>'contraction' subtype (e.g. Dr. for Doctor).
>
>Fede

========================================================================
Jim Melton --- Editor of ISO/IEC 9075-* (SQL)     Phone: +1.801.942.0144
   Co-Chair, W3C XML Query WG; XQX (etc.) editor    Fax : +1.801.942.3345
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