BBQ (1951)

[Joanne M. Despres]

On 28 Oct 2003, at 12:10, George Thompson wrote:

> Actually, I do pronounce BBQ as "beebeecue", while still also saying "barBQ" when I am thinking "barbeque".

Well, if you both pronounce BBQ as "beebeecue" and inflect it in
the same way a noun (or a verb) would be inflected, then you're
definitely using it as an acronym, according to the style here.  And
if enough people come to use BBQ that way, the label in M-W
dictionaries will be changed; but so far that hasn't happened.

The editor in charge of abbreviations here, Kathleen Doherty, tells
me that the distinction between an abbreviation and an acronym
has grown murkier in the past ten or fifteen years -- that words
formerly thought of strictly as abbreviations (such as FBI) are now
sometimes being called acronyms.  The definition in C11 has been
changed to reflect this circumstance, though M-W definers still
hew to the old distinction in their labelling of entry-words.  Only
initialisms that are pronounced rather than spelled out or that
behave syntactically like full-fledged words (such as radar, snafu,
TKO, and OD) currently get the "acronym" label.

Joanne
Joanne M. Despres, Senior Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
jdespres at merriam-webster.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com