Is there a rule on acronyms and initialisms being spelled out with the first letter of each word being uppercase or lowercase? Example: interim final rule (IFR) Interim Final Rule (IFR) Answer The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010) briefly addresses the question of whether the spelled-out form of an initialism or acronym should … Read more
I have a question. How do I make an initialism out of a word/phrase with a number? For an example: Should Rainbow 6 Siege be R6S because of initialism is an abbreviation made of initial letters but 6 is not a letter. Answer It’s perfectly acceptable to use a ‘numeronym‘ A numeronym is a word … Read more
In database technology there is a standard called “Structured Query Language”, which is abbreviated as SQL. However, some people pronounce SQL as “SeQueL”. If SQL is an “abbreviation” or “acronym” – what could “SeQueL” be called. Ie. what is a word called that is an invented way to pronounce an abbreviation? Answer It’s called a … Read more
First of all, I’m Korean, and we don’t have a middle name. Except for a very few odd cases, our names are composed of one letter surname, and two letters first name. For example, former UN secretary general was Korean, and his name is Ban (family name), and Ki-Moon (first name) I don’t know how … Read more
I am writing my PhD thesis, and I want to use the acronym “DOM” referring to “Domain Optimization Method”, as I use a lot that expression throughout the document. At the moment of defining it (i.e. the first time I use it), I write something like: “…solved by using a Domian Optimization Method (DOM)…” My … Read more
(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
In an online forum, OP means “original poster,” but can it also mean “original post?” For example, instead of saying To answer the OP’s original question… could one instead say To answer the question in the OP… or would this be an improper use of the term? Answer People all over the Internet have asked … 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
For example, AIM stands for AOL Instant Messenger, and AOL stands for American OnLine. This isn’t quite the same thing as a recursive acronym, which refers to itself. Maybe the term is nested acronym? Answer You’re correct, it is in fact a nested acronym: nested acronym: an acronym where one of the letters represents another … Read more
At my job I have created an application which supplements the functions of the main system the employees use during the day. The main system is referred to with a Three Letter Abbreviation (TLA). Because I wanted to be clever and memorable, I gave my application a friendly-sounding name (in theory at least, to native … Read more
