FUQs

[xilman]

Originally Posted by science_man_88

so basically it's one that never gets answered because all the answer gives you is another question ? this one means is a FAQ ( frequently asked question) is a TLA ( triple letter acronym). so until they know what that is they have no answer to the question ?

Strictly speaking (and one should always speak strictly, especially to animals and small children) a TLA is a three letter abbreviation. It's not an acronym because it's not generally spoken as a word but rather as a sequence of letters.

Neither is the response a question, strictly speaking. It's an assertion. Of course, it should raise the question in the reader's mind: what does that mean?

[Dubslow]

Originally Posted by xilman

Strictly speaking (and one should always speak strictly, especially to animals and small children) a TLA is a three letter abbreviation. It's not an acronym because it's not generally spoken as a word but rather as a sequence of letters.

Many acronyms are pronounced as the letters themselves, and I've never heard anyone try to actually pronounce an abbrv. So I would definitely say it's an acronym.

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by xilman

Strictly speaking (and one should always speak strictly, especially to animals and small children) a TLA is a three letter abbreviation. It's not an acronym because it's not generally spoken as a word but rather as a sequence of letters.

Neither is the response a question, strictly speaking. It's an assertion. Of course, it should raise the question in the reader's mind: what does that mean?

I mean that the response begs another question so:

Q: What is a FAQ?
A: A FAQ is a TLA.

needs to know what a TLA is or ask another question

Q:what's a TLA ?
A:...

so until you get answers down to the level you know you ask questions.


Q:what's a PDA
A:a PDA is a PIM

[Brian-E]

Q. Is science_man_88 trying to alter Paul's definition of a FUQ this afternoon?

A. That depends on which time zone you are in.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Dubslow

Many acronyms are pronounced as the letters themselves, and I've never heard anyone try to actually pronounce an abbrv. So I would definitely say it's an acronym.

I, and many dictionaries, disagree with you. An acronym is a word, not a list of letters, the latter being an initialism.

For instance: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acronym

Chambers English dictionary: A word formed from the initial letters of another word, as radar.

This one defines an acronym nicely and also indicates the difference between an acronym and an initialism.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/acronym.html


Paul

[Dubslow]

Originally Posted by xilman

I, and many dictionaries, disagree with you. An acronym is a word, not a list of letters, the latter being an initialism.

For instance: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acronym

Chambers English dictionary: A word formed from the initial letters of another word, as radar.

This one defines an acronym nicely and also indicates the difference between an acronym and an initialism.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/acronym.html


Paul

Debatable, and also probably partially due to our locations vis-à-vis the pond. Wikipedia contains this quote from Merriam-Webster (an American dictionary):

^ Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, 1994. ISBN 0-87779-132-5. pp. 21–2:

acronyms
A number of commentators (as Copperud 1970, Janis 1984, Howard 1984) believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not:

Pyles & Algeo 1970 divide acronyms into "initialisms", which consists of initial letters pronounced with the letter names, and "word acronyms", which are pronounced as words. Initialism, an older word than acronym, seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with acronym in a narrow sense.

Emphasis my own of course.

In either case, I would still argue that acronym is more appropriate for TLA than abbreviation, even if initialism is more appropriate than acronym.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Dubslow

Debatable, and also probably partially due to our locations vis-à-vis the pond. Wikipedia contains this quote from Merriam-Webster:

Emphasis my own of course.

In either case, I would still argue that acronym is more appropriate for TLA than abbreviation, even if initialism is more appropriate than acronym.

In that case, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage is demonstrably wrong. Dictionaries do make the distinction and I gave Chambers as an explicit example. Another is Google's dictionary:

[Dubslow]

Originally Posted by xilman

In that case, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage is demonstrably wrong. Dictionaries do make the distinction and I gave Chambers as an explicit example. Another is Google's dictionary:

1) It's from 1992, so at the time it may have been right.

2) I'm not sure that Chambers/Google do make the distinction. The only distinction is how they are pronounced, which is not addressed in either definition.

3) To be super pedantic, it also depends on what your definition of a word is: Google's definition of "word" does not seem to exclude something like "TLA".

4) Regardless of the dictionaries and definitions, I would still argue that common use takes precedent over what some scholar says, and in my experience at least, the distinction is not made and acronym is an all encompassing word.

[axn]

Q: What will happen if (when) I (my computer) find(s) a Mersenne prime?

A1: Your computer will make a beeping sound.
A2: Your computer will report the result to Primenet server.
A3: Your computer will move on to the next assignment.

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by axn

A1: Your computer will make a beeping sound.

genial!

[akruppa]

Q: What's so special about Mersenne primes?
A: They are prime.