My new TLA

[dabrock]

The Miltary for sure.
I used to give an example to my Navy peers by saying "The DCA, who was the EOOW told the MPA that the DOC in the DFT put it OOC, the MPA told the CHENG and he told the OOD who passed it on to the CO.".
To my peers, that sentence made perfect sense, but is unintelligible to anyone outside Navy Steam Propulsion.

I remember sending a missive to my CO and realized that there were no words in it.

 

[Tirvine]

And lest my invention be taken as an initialism, it is pronounced Tizzy.

 

[thombrogan]

In other words - TSE

TSE is a TIOTLA or Tom Irvine Originated Three Letter Acronym

 

[Tirvine]

TSE is a TIOTLA or Tom Irvine Originated Three Letter Acronym

Thanks...BTW it's Tim. Cheers.

 

[Adam18]

It's all pretty groovy to me. Thanks to the OP for this swell thread !

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks...BTW it's Tim. Cheers.

Excellent! And my apologies for temporarily renaming you.

 

[Tirvine]

Excellent! And my apologies for temporarily renaming you.

No problem.

 

[Owen Bawn]

All initialisms are acronyms, but not all acronyms are initialisms.
CEO is an initialism because it is said letter by letter, it's also an acronym.
RADAR is an acronym but not an initialism because it's said as one word.
All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms.
Dr. and Prof. are abbreviations but not acronyms.

You know what acronym you can get from the Good Old Days?

 

[shave/brush]

Figuring out all the acronyms people use here is TMT and CAH
(Too Much Trouble)
(Confusing As Heck)

I agree with that.

 

[luvmysuper]

You know what acronym you can get from the Good Old Days?

Goolays?

 

[Benzadmiral]

The Miltary for sure.
I used to give an example to my Navy peers by saying "The DCA, who was the EOOW told the MPA that the DOC in the DFT put it OOC, the MPA told the CHENG and he told the OOD who passed it on to the CO.".
To my peers, that sentence made perfect sense, but is unintelligible to anyone outside Navy Steam Propulsion.

I got "Chief Engineer," "Officer of the Deck," and "Commanding Officer."

 

[Benzadmiral]

Initialisms and acronyms are both abbreviations. So your definition is correct in as far as Initialisms are abbreviations.
But initialisms are also acronyms.

View attachment 1287268

So, if United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, U.N.C.L.E., is pronounced as a word, "Uncle," it's an acronym. But if it's spelled out (as characters occasionally did on the series), "you-enn-cee-ell-ee," it's an initialism. Yes?

 

[luvmysuper]

I got "Chief Engineer," "Officer of the Deck," and "Commanding Officer."

"The Damage Control Assistant, who was the Engineering Officer Of the Watch told the Main Propulsion Assistant that the Dissolved Oxygen Content in the Deaerating Feed Tank put it Out Of Commission, the Main Propulsion Assistant told the CHEif eNGineer and he told the Officer Of the Deck who passed it on to the Commanding Officer."

 

[luvmysuper]

So, if United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, U.N.C.L.E., is pronounced as a word, "Uncle," it's an acronym. But if it's spelled out (as characters occasionally did on the series), "you-enn-cee-ell-ee," it's an initialism. Yes?

Honest to god, this is my last post on the subject, I am so sorry to Tim for participating in the derailing of his thoughtful thread and I am so sorry to Cal for pushing my interpretation on him. Please forgive me.

My understanding from my education and as far as I can determine from grammar and English usage websites and dictionaries is a breakdown shown below.
Abbreviations - a shortened form of a word or phrase which does not fit the categories below, which can also include acronyms, which in turn also includes initialisms.
subclass type of abbreviations named acronyms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase (initialism examples below) or which form a new pronounceable word - example: UNCLE, RADAR, SCUBA etc.
subclass of abbreviations which are acronyms named initialisms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase, but which do not form a new pronounceable word and must be said letter by letter - example: FBI, CIA, UCLA etc.

An abbreviation which does not fit in the acronym category is generally one which is pronounced as the whole word, even though printed in abbreviated form. Example - Mr. Mrs. Dr. or Prof. - when you say Prof., you do not say it spelled out as in "pee-are-oh-ehff", and you do not say it as a new word as in "proff", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Professor. When you say Mr., you do not say it spelled out as in "em-are", and you do not say it as a new word as in "mer", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Mister.

 

[Tirvine]

Among the many annoying things about initialisms, acronyms, and other industry jargon is the fact that they are often used in a way that is intended to make the audience feel ignorant, thereby making them an easier target for inappropriate sales, uninformed consent, and so on.

Since joining B&B I have had to resort to the abbreviations and acronyms page quite a few times. I wish it were a sticky or a separate link at the top of every page. Although I sometimes use it to telegraph information such as what I used today, I feel very self conscious doing it. Imagine a newbie reading that I used an ATT CM1, BK4, MdC, GSB, and 4711. If I really want to convey to that newbie the ingredients of my terrific shaves doesn't it work a lot better to spell it out? Yikes. Now I am in a tizzy. What a PITA!

 

[Tirvine]

Honest to god, this is my last post on the subject, I am so sorry to Tim for participating in the derailing of his thoughtful thread and I am so sorry to Cal for pushing my interpretation on him. Please forgive me.

My understanding from my education and as far as I can determine from grammar and English usage websites and dictionaries is a breakdown shown below.
Abbreviations - a shortened form of a word or phrase which does not fit the categories below, which can also include acronyms, which in turn also includes initialisms.
subclass type of abbreviations named acronyms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase (initialism examples below) or which form a new pronounceable word - example: UNCLE, RADAR, SCUBA etc.
subclass of abbreviations which are acronyms named initialisms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase, but which do not form a new pronounceable word and must be said letter by letter - example: FBI, CIA, UCLA etc.

An abbreviation which does not fit in the acronym category is generally one which is pronounced as the whole word, even though printed in abbreviated form. Example - Mr. Mrs. Dr. or Prof. - when you say Prof., you do not say it spelled out as in "pee-are-oh-***", and you do not say it as a new word as in "proff", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Professor. When you say Mr., you do not say it spelled out as in "em-are", and you do not say it as a new word as in "mer", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Mister.

And then there is that bizarre world where the self proclaimed cognoscenti force pronunciations of initialisms. Investment banking and government are full of them. I remember the first time I heard someone try to pronounce CMO as a word. Happily enough, it never caught on, although we might have avoided some of the mortgage crisis if Wall Street had been pushing SCHMOs rather than C M O s.

 

[Owen Bawn]

ymmv

 

[Tirvine]

Honest to god, this is my last post on the subject, I am so sorry to Tim for participating in the derailing of his thoughtful thread and I am so sorry to Cal for pushing my interpretation on him. Please forgive me.

My understanding from my education and as far as I can determine from grammar and English usage websites and dictionaries is a breakdown shown below.
Abbreviations - a shortened form of a word or phrase which does not fit the categories below, which can also include acronyms, which in turn also includes initialisms.
subclass type of abbreviations named acronyms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase (initialism examples below) or which form a new pronounceable word - example: UNCLE, RADAR, SCUBA etc.
subclass of abbreviations which are acronyms named initialisms - abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase, but which do not form a new pronounceable word and must be said letter by letter - example: FBI, CIA, UCLA etc.

An abbreviation which does not fit in the acronym category is generally one which is pronounced as the whole word, even though printed in abbreviated form. Example - Mr. Mrs. Dr. or Prof. - when you say Prof., you do not say it spelled out as in "pee-are-oh-ehff", and you do not say it as a new word as in "proff", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Professor. When you say Mr., you do not say it spelled out as in "em-are", and you do not say it as a new word as in "mer", you say the entire word for which the abbreviation is formed - Mister.

Please do not apologize. You have seriously enriched an otherwise vapid thread.

 

[BigJ]

The last time I heard anyone say that something was "swell" was when Wally Cleaver was telling the Beaver about his day. But I think reviving old terms is macaroni, so carry on!

+1! You must be very old!! (I remember Leave it to Beaver.)

 

[Cal]

ymmv

It does indeed!