4 ms·

> looking for initialisms, not acronyms Imprecise wording, initialisms are a case of acronyms, it's not either or. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/page/abbreviation

> looking for initialisms, not acronyms Imprecise wording, initialisms are a case of acronyms, it's not either or. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/page/abbreviations-acronyms-initialisms https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/page/abbreviations-acronyms-initia... "an initialism is an acronym that is pronounced as individual letters" https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/abbreviation-vs-acronym-vs-initialism-grammar-rules https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/abbreviat... "As such, acronyms are initialisms."

gameman144 3y ago
Wait, am I crazy or are these two articles saying the exact opposite thing about which class is the parent one? The CDC one seems to say that initialisms are a class of acronym, but the Writers Digest one says acronyms are a class of initialism.
- Kerbonut 3y ago
  I read those the same way. In any case, both acronyms and initialisms are individual subsets of abbreviations.
  - jahnu 3y ago
    TIL
- sebastiennight 3y ago
  The CDC link says they are two separate classes (one is pronounced as a word, the other one is pronounced by reading the letters) The Writer's Digest link says that initialisms are the parent class, and that acronyms are the special case of specifically pronouncing the letters as a word. So, root comment is correct (gwern is looking for initialisms) and GP is incorrect (initialisms are not a subset of acronyms in either definition linked by GP).
  - gameman144 3y ago
    As far as I can tell, the CDC is also stating an is-a relationship: > an initialism is an acronym that is pronounced as individual letters
    - sebastiennight 3y ago
      But it contradicts their earlier definition: > an acronym is made up of parts of the phrase it stands for and is pronounced as a word I think their guideline is badly written. It's written like this: > There are vehicles, bicycles and motorbikes. A vehicle takes you from point A to point B. A bicycle is a human-powered transportation device. A motorbike is a bicycle propelled by an engine. For the purposes of this article, all three will be called "vehicles" in the rest of the text. They're not saying "an initialism is part of the class Acronym, with added details", they're saying "an initialism is basically like the class Acronym, but pronunciation (which was how we defined Acronyms) is different.
  - throw555chip 3y ago
    > initialisms are not a subset of acronyms https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronym-vs-abbreviation/ https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronym-vs-abbreviation/ "Initialisms are types of acronyms."

gameman144 3y ago

Wait, am I crazy or are these two articles saying the exact opposite thing about which class is the parent one? The CDC one seems to say that initialisms are a class of acronym, but the Writers Digest one says acronyms are a class of initialism.

Kerbonut 3y ago
I read those the same way. In any case, both acronyms and initialisms are individual subsets of abbreviations.
- jahnu 3y ago
  TIL
sebastiennight 3y ago
The CDC link says they are two separate classes (one is pronounced as a word, the other one is pronounced by reading the letters) The Writer's Digest link says that initialisms are the parent class, and that acronyms are the special case of specifically pronouncing the letters as a word. So, root comment is correct (gwern is looking for initialisms) and GP is incorrect (initialisms are not a subset of acronyms in either definition linked by GP).
- gameman144 3y ago
  As far as I can tell, the CDC is also stating an is-a relationship: > an initialism is an acronym that is pronounced as individual letters
  - sebastiennight 3y ago
    But it contradicts their earlier definition: > an acronym is made up of parts of the phrase it stands for and is pronounced as a word I think their guideline is badly written. It's written like this: > There are vehicles, bicycles and motorbikes. A vehicle takes you from point A to point B. A bicycle is a human-powered transportation device. A motorbike is a bicycle propelled by an engine. For the purposes of this article, all three will be called "vehicles" in the rest of the text. They're not saying "an initialism is part of the class Acronym, with added details", they're saying "an initialism is basically like the class Acronym, but pronunciation (which was how we defined Acronyms) is different.
- throw555chip 3y ago
  > initialisms are not a subset of acronyms https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronym-vs-abbreviation/ https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronym-vs-abbreviation/ "Initialisms are types of acronyms."