Uber-pedant alert
An 'acronym' is an abbreviation that makes a new word. [Like NATO]
An 'initialism' is an abbreviation that does not. [Like CIA]
There are also abbreviations that are neither. [Like Abbr or const]
An 'acrostic' is a phrase or poem whose initial letters, or syllables, of words, or paragraphs, make an existing word. [Such as The War Against Terror]
And, for completeness, a contraction is when two words merge into one [usually seperated by a comma such as 'don't' instead of 'do not']
//Edit: B3ta does not like Umlauts!
( ,
Sat 13 Aug 2005, 16:55,
archived)
An 'initialism' is an abbreviation that does not. [Like CIA]
There are also abbreviations that are neither. [Like Abbr or const]
An 'acrostic' is a phrase or poem whose initial letters, or syllables, of words, or paragraphs, make an existing word. [Such as The War Against Terror]
And, for completeness, a contraction is when two words merge into one [usually seperated by a comma such as 'don't' instead of 'do not']
//Edit: B3ta does not like Umlauts!