- From: David Norris <dave@webaugur.com>
- Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 04:47:26 +0000
- To: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com>
- CC: "Gregory J. Rosmaita" <unagi69@concentric.net>, WAI Interest Group Emailing List <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Kynn Bartlett wrote:
> In my opinion, something that is pronounced as a word is an ACRONYM,
> something that is spelled out as letters is not an ACRONYM. Any
> shortened form of a word that is not an ACRONYM is an ABBR.
I have always been under the impression that HTML is normalized to the
English language. I believe the HTML spec references this, as well. As
such, Merriam Webster (http://www.m-w.com/) defines those two terms as
such:
ac·ro·nym
: a word (as NATO, radar, or snafu) formed from the initial letter
or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound
term.
ab·bre·vi·a·tion
1 : the act or result of abbreviating : ABRIDGMENT
2 : a shortened form of a written word or phrase used in place of the
whole <amt is an abbreviation for amount>
Neither of those definitions make reference to pronunciation. The
examples cited by Merriam Webster are in direct conflict with your
examples cited previously.
--
,David Norris
Open Server Architecture Project - http://www.opensa.org/
Dave's Web - http://www.webaugur.com/dave/
ICQ Universal Internet Number - 412039
E-Mail - dave@webaugur.com
Received on Saturday, 19 February 2000 23:48:01 UTC