acronymn vs abbreviation

[Hugh Wilson]

The Wordsmyth English  Dictionary-Thesaurus at:

http://www.lightlink.com/bobp/wedt/

says:

Acronym:  a word formed by combining the initial letters or parts of
a series of words in a longer phrase, such as "scuba" for
"self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

Word: a sound, group of sounds, or the corresponding symbol in
writing that expresses some meaning; a basic unit of language.

Abbreviation:  a shortened form of a word or phrase used in writing

On  9 Dec 98 at 4:08, JOSEPH E. LAFERRIERE <josephl at AZTEC.ASU.EDU>
wrote:

> Date:          Wed, 9 Dec 1998 04:08:36 -0700
> Reply-to:      "JOSEPH E. LAFERRIERE" <josephl at AZTEC.ASU.EDU>
> From:          "JOSEPH E. LAFERRIERE" <josephl at AZTEC.ASU.EDU>
> Subject:       acronymn vs abbreviation
> To:            Multiple recipients of list TAXACOM

> >an acronym is somthing
> >you can pronounce (like SNAFU, COSEWIC?) and an abbreviation is just
> >letters but not pronouncable (CMN, NMC).
>
> I see. So then, of the combination of letters referring to the
> herbarium building at 22 Divinity Ave in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
> [i.e. Harvard University], A, AMES, and ECON are acronyms because
> they can be pronounced as words, whereas GH is not an acronym?
> Is this correct? What about MO [Missouri Botanical Garden] and
> NY [New York Botanical Garden] which could hypothetically be
> prnounced as words even though I have never heard anyone
> do so?
>
>

Hugh D. Wilson
Texas A&M University - Biology
h-wilson at tamu.edu (409-845-3354)
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/Wilson/homepage.html