acronym for

[Joel S. Berson]

Someone earlier suggested metonym, which sounds right to me.  From
the OED, metonym = metonymy = " b. In extended use: a thing used or
regarded as a substitute for or symbol of something else."  Although
I admire Tom's acronym.

Joel

 > On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > "Pompeii is also an acronym for sentient
> > > death in its most tormented form."
> > >
> > > as so often happens with incorrect word choices, the word that's
> > > actually used blocks me from retrieving the word that *should* have
> > > been used.  well, i'd probably have used "a symbol", but that's not
> > > even close to "acronym" phonologically.  "icon"?

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