nouns - Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?


TLA is an acronym for "Three Letter Acronym". Is it also an abbreviation, since it abbreviates the original phrase?



Answer



An acronym (as the term is commonly used) is a term that is formed from the initial letters of some longer name and is pronounced differently than the expanded form. Examples of acronyms as the term is commonly used:



  • FBI, which stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation, but is pronounced ef-bee-I

  • NATO, which stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but is pronounced NAY-toe

  • IUPAC, which stands for International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, but is pronounced I-U-pak


An abbreviation is written differently from the expanded form but is pronounced the same. Examples:



  • Mr., which stands for mister and is pronounced mister

  • ft., which stands for feet and is pronounced feet

  • etc., which stands for et cetera and is pronounced et cetera


Whether the form is pronounced as a “word” or as letter names or as some combination of the two is a red herring. The key difference is whether the abbreviated form is pronounced differently from the expanded form.


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