Museum "Acronyms" {=RIGHT! & may be abbreviations also}

[Richard Jensen]

The operative set of letters here is "word".  I don't think MCZ qualifies as a "word" by any standard definition of what a "word" is.  It is an abbreviation with the periods dropped -M.C.Z. (identical to the US postal abbreviation for Rhode Island - RI - in deriviation; of course, RI could be pronounced as "rye" and thus qualify as an acronym; SD, for South Dakota, is a better example of abbreviation).  Acronyms must be able to be considered words.

Dick

christian thompson wrote:

> Sorry, John, but my Random House College Dictionary (1973, page 13) has ACRONYM as *a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase, as WAC from Women*s Army Corps or loran from long-range navigation.  Whereas ABREVIATION (page 2) from abbreviate is to shorten (a word or phrase) by omitting letters, substituting shorter forms, etc., as ft. for foot, ab. for about, R. I. for Rhode Island, N W for Northwest or Xn for Christian.
>
> So, it is correct to call MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology) or BMNH (British Museum of Natural History), etc. ACRONYMs as there are. There can also be abbreviation.
>
> Also, your URL is a dud.
>
> F. Christian Thompson
> Systematic Entomology Lab., ARS, USDA
> Smithsonian Institution
> Washington, D. C. 20560-0169
> (202) 382-1800 voice
> (202) 786-9422 FAX
> cthompso at sel.barc.usda.gov [NB: no terminal "n"]
> visit our Diptera site at www.diptera.org
>
> >>> John Bruner <jbruner at gpu.srv.ualberta.ca> 07/24 12:26 PM >>>
> Dear Christian Thompson:
>         There are no such thing as museum "acronyms." If you mean museum
> abbreviations, then one of the best lists is the following:
> "ASIH Institutional Code Database"
> http://lionfish.ims.usm.edu/~musweb/asih_codes.cgi
>
>         John
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--
Richard J. Jensen              TEL: 574-284-4674
Department of Biology      FAX: 574-284-4716
Saint Mary's College         E-mail: rjensen at saintmarys.edu
Notre Dame, IN  46556     http://www.saintmarys.edu/~rjensen