atw: Re: Acronym-free day
- From: Peter Martin <prescribal@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 16:48:07 +1100
Then there's FHCSAIA. I'm pretty sure I didn't say Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs... or Eff Aitch See Ess and
Eye Eh
On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Howard Silcock <howard.silcock@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Yes, Irene, technically you're right. So "IBM", one of the ones I
> mentioned, is really an "initialism", not an acronym, since you can't
> pronounce it as a word (well, at any rate, no-one ever tries to). I'm not
> sure where that leaves "DFAT", which is usually pronounced "dee-fat" (in
> full it's the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).
>
> However, the *Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage* says that "the
> term ['initialism'] is not widely known ... Many people simply include
> initialisms under the general heading of *acronym*". (I guess that what
> you meant, Irene, when you said that most people don't know what an acronym
> is.)
>
> In any case, I suspect the organisers of our acronym-free day would have
> the wider meaning in mind and I would feel mean depriving the Kids' Help
> Line of 50¢ by pleading that "IBM" wasn't an acronym!
>
> Howard
>
> On 26 November 2014 at 12:38, WongWord@xxxxxxxxx <wongword@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> Huh
>>
>> Most people don't know what an acronym really is. If it is an acronym
>> free day then I can still say the following because they are not acronyms:
>>
>> NSW CEO .
>>
>> KFC is a registered company name so that must be permitted surely
>>
>> Irene Wong
>> On Nov 26, 2014 12:25 PM, "Howard Silcock" <howard.silcock@xxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I have just learnt that the Government department in which I'm a
>>> contractor has declared this Thursday to be an acronym-free day.
>>>
>>> This seemed like a great idea but I was a bit disappointed, as I
>>> read further in the email advising us of this, that it's only *spoken*
>>> acronyms
>>> that are banned. They will attract a 50-cent fine that will be contributed
>>> to the Kid's Helpline [sic - it seems they think the helpline is only for
>>> one kid!].
>>>
>>> I hope I don't need to say anything about lasers, radar, IBM or Qantas
>>> on the day!
>>>
>>> Howard
>>>
>>
>
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