Acronyms

[Coldicote]

We live in an age of acronyms and I guess I'm not alone in spending time finding out what they mean? Have you found any particularly irritating - or amusing? Here are just a few for starters and no doubt there are many more: -

ADSL; ATM; BTW; NATO; CD-ROM; DNS; SCUBA; SSR; LOL

When I first came to AB I imagined that LOL meant Little Old Lady!
Last but not least what is the word ACRONYM derived from?

[starone]

What about CD-ROM - sounds like a bit of both - CD an abbreviation and ROM being an acronym?

[askyourgran]

I'm a little old lady LOL.

[askyourgran]

Guess that's two star, I've just seen your post earlier.

[Buenchico]

A valid point, Starbuckone. 'CD-ROM' is, as you say, a combination of an abbreviation and an acronym. However, If I had to classify it as one or the other, it would have to be as an abbreviation, since all acronyms are abbreviations but not all abbreviations are acronyms.

[starone]

I was just about to say - that makes two of us then gran.

[Coldicote]

Where would we be without Professor Buenchico? I guess we've all learnt something. Thanks everyone for making it an interesting discussion. SSR can mean many things including Satelite System Receiver; and ATM also means At The Moment.
'Bye for now - or should I say TTFN.

[ttfn]

You called?