Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thegadfly]

UFO, TV, VCR, DVD, and CD are examples of acronyms that are pronounced letter by letter.

AIDS, ToEFL, TESOL, SCUBA, and RADAR are examples of acronyms that are pronounced as words.

I would call "UFO" an acronym and "AIDS" an acrostic word...I have read that the former would be called "initialisms" or "alphebetisms," while the latter might be called simply an "acronym."

What would you call them, and where did you get the information? Thank you in advance....

[suneater]

[thegadfly]

Thank you for the reply suneater -- have used the web, did find similar information -- but I have the niggling sensation that there is a specific term that I just can't seem to recall and have not seen in my online searches -- like when you have the word on the tip of your tongue but just cannot say the stupid thing? Initialism wasn't it, nor was alphabetism...and abbreviation was right out....

Thank you, though, for taking the time, and for the link.

[Ut videam]

thegadfly, are you thinking of portmanteaux?

[suneater]

Here's a more substantial list...but I get the feeling what you're looking for isn't listed

Quote:

Types of Acronyms and Abbreviations Anacronym - is a backronym that became a replacements of other acronym that have become obsolete acronym and not used anymore. Alphabetism - same as initialism or initial acronym. Also alphabetism may refer to special approach or sometimes discrimination (usually of companies) on the basis that the name is an initialism. Backronyms (same as bacronym) - is a phrase which is constructed backwards from some word (usually initialism). Pure backronym - happens when the original word was not previously or commonly known as an acronym or abbreviation. Recursive backronym - a backronym that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands. Replacement backronym - is formed when the original word is an initialism or acronym with different meaning Mnemonic backronym - all of them are Replacement backronyms and are created for the purposes of education. Euphonious acronym - an acronym where letters are added or subtracted to produce a pronounceable word. e.g. lazer (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) Immigrant acronym - is an acronym where foreign words are adopted into English. e.g. RSVP Initialisms - an acronym where each letter stands for a separate word. Each letter is pronounced separatelly. Initial acronym - same as Initialisms. Hybrid acronym - acronym that has the features of both letter acronyms and syllable acronyms. e.g. JPEG or MS-DOS Letter acronym - same as Initial acronym or Initialisms. Nested acronym - an acronym where one of the letters represents another acronym. e.g. AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) Obsolete acronym - an acronym or abbreviation that is not used anymore or has been replaced with a different name Redundant acronym - a phrase of an acronym/abbreviation and a word(s) which make up an acronym as well as the phrase itself, thus in effect repeating the part of acronym twice. Typical examples: PIN Number, ATM Machine, VIN number, RAM memory, LCD display, LED diode, ISBN number Recursive acronym (same as recursive initialism) - is an acronym which refers to itself in the expression for which it stands. e.g. VISA standing for Visa International Service Association Mutually recursive acronym - the chain of Recursive acronyms and their meanings. e.g. GNU Hurd or GNU Brain Self-referential acronym - same as Recursive acronym Syllable acronym or Syllable abbreviation - A syllabic abbreviation (SA) is an abbreviation formed from (usually) initial syllables of several words, such as Interpol for International police Three-Letter Acronyms (TLA's)- acronyms which use three letters HTML acronym and abbreviation tags - <acronym> and <abbr> HTML tags

found at http://www.all-acronyms.com/special/types_of_abbreviations.asp

quite an interesting topic, but what is more so are the phonological truncations like aphaeresis, aphesis, syncope, apocope, etc.

[thegadfly]

Again, thank you Suneater, and no, none of those terms scratch the itch...perhaps I am just imagining that I used to know the term I am looking for -- I feel like it was something I know and used but have just mentally misplaced...but I have more than sufficient terms now for educational purposes....

UT Vidteam,

No, that wasn't the term I was looking for -- I taught "Jabberwocky" in the US often enough for that one to stick Thanks though