(Skip to the end for the actual question.) Definitions According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, an initialism is: "An abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately". According to the OED’s definition of acronyms, initialisms are also acronyms: "A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter or part being … Read more
I am reading the book A Voyage for Madman by Peter Nichols. There are some maps on some pages. On those maps, I see the acronym “SFM” and have no idea what it means. I looked SFM up on Google and I found lots of stuff about Source Film Maker, which is a software. I … Read more
Sinn Féin has confirmed that one of their MLA’s has removed a clamp from the front wheel of his car, using what appears to be bolt cutters, in Belfast. This is from the BBC website. I know the merits of ‘s for plural acronyms is covered at Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an … Read more
How should UNC (Universal Naming Convention) be pronounced? “unk” “you en see” In a sentence, should it be “a UNC share” or “an UNC share”? A Google search for “a unc” -carolina results in about 400,000 results while “an unc” -carolina results in about 100,000 results. Answer The convention among IT professionals is to pronounce … Read more
I’m wondering if there is some special abbreviation for “At the time of writing this document”. I am writing a document that contains names of individuals to contact in certain scenarios, and it is labeled with its date of creation. I want to be explicit though about who should be contacted, but remind some potential … Read more
I have an unusual situation related to the well-worn topic of when to use a/an before an acronym. We all know that the SOUND is what dictates which to use. So, for example, this is correct: “If an NOAC has been discontinued in the setting of acute UGI bleeding … “ However, here is where … Read more
Instances in print of the phrase "Republican in name only"—referring to members of the Republican party who, in the writer’s opinion, lack sufficient devotion to what the writer regards as the core principles of that party—go back many years. (Precisely what those core principles are seem to vary somewhat from writer to writer and from … Read more
First of all, I am not a native English speaker, so that’s why I’m having an issue with this one. I am under the impression that an abbreviation is the shortening of something, like boulevard = blvd, and acronyms is when you shorten longer words/sentences like World Trade Center = WTC. I don’t know if … Read more
I was torn between posting this here or on finance SE. I feel it’s more likely to get useful answers here, if you disagree please comment. It is common for the UK pound (£) to be referred to as GBP, which I feel safe in assuming stands for “Great Brit(ain|ish) Pound” But Great Britain does … Read more
I’ve read Using the definite article with acronyms and initialisms and Is it appropriate to use "the" before an abbreviation? I know that 1. The article is often used with initials that are pronounced letter by letter (initialisms). 2. The article is often NOT used with initials that are pronounced as a word (acronyms). I … Read more
