Re: Abbreviations and Acronyms

You wrote:
> If I have learned anything, then, as earlier mentioned by
> John Whelan these two examples from the spec are wrong:
>            <ABBR title="World Wide Web">WWW</ABBR>
>            <ABBR lang="fr"
>                  title="Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Nationale des Chemins de
Fer">
>               SNCF
>            </ABBR>
> These are then not abbrevations, they are acronyms. Right?

No, these aren't wrong.  The difference in abbreviations and acronyms is
acronyms are a pronounceable form made by a combination of letters.  For
instance, SCUBA is an acronym while IBM is an abbreviation.  You can't
pronounce WWW and SNCF as words, so they are abbreviations.  Hence, the
example is perfecty fine.

> Then, there is the problem with pronouncing things letter by letter
vs.
> as a word, and the problem with things that should always be expanded.
As
> long as these problems are not addressed by the distinction between
the
> elements, I feel that there might not be a need for both elements.

Sure there's a need for both, as long as their both used properly.  For
ACRONYM, there is no need for a TITLE attribute.  For voice UAs, they
will (should, IMO) know to pronounce ACRONYM's content because it is
pronounceable.  Obviously, for ABBR, there is a need for TITLE so the UA
will (should, IMO) know how to expand the abbreviation.

--
 -Ryan Fischer <fischer@email.unc.edu> ICQ UIN - 595003

Received on Thursday, 14 October 1999 13:17:56 UTC