[Ads-l] Acronym of the year? CBS / WBS / IWBTG

[Ben Zimmer]

The 1940 OED cite (for "acronym" in the initialism sense) was discovered by
Stephen Goranson in 2010:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-December/105193.html

I wrote about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/magazine/19FOB-onlanguage-t.html


On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 9:46 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:

> Including the OED -- Acronym, n.  "1. A group of initial letters used as
> an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter or part being
> pronounced separately; an initialism (such as ATM, TLS)."  1940--2008.
>
> 2. is "... the whole being pronounced as a single word (such as NATO,
> RADA)."  [I feel the absence of an R.] 1943--2009.
>
>
> I was led down the primrose path by this sentence from the Globe article
> -- "McDonnell said the letters were an acronym for "Can't be stopped. Won't
> be stopped. I will be the greatest'."  (NSWSA.  That is, Not sure who said
> 'acronym' -- McDonnell or the Globe writer.)
>
> Joel
>       From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>  Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2017 8:40 AM
>  Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Acronym of the year? CBS / WBS / IWBTG
>
> Sure used to be, but few people seem to care anymore.
>
> (When you say "cee-bee-ess" you're pronouncing it, so it must be an
> acronym....)
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 5:04 AM, Margaret Lee <
> 0000006730deb3bf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > Isn't an acronym a _pronounceable_  abbreviation?
> > --Margaret Lee
> >
> >
> >      From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> >  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >  Sent: Friday, March 31, 2017 10:08 AM
> >  Subject: Re: Acronym of the year? CBS / WBS / IWBTG
> >
> > Hard to beat MAR-A-LAGO:
> >
> > http://www.nbcnews.com/news/
> us-news/democrats-intoduce-mar-lago-act-force-trump-
> provide-visitor-logs-n738426
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 3:32 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
> >
> > > No, not several entertainment giants.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Can't be stopped.  Won't be stopped.  I will be the greatest."
> > >
> > > On his hand, according to Ryan McDonnell, a former personal assistant
> to
> > > Aaron Hernandez.
> > >
> > > Boston Globe, March 29, 2017, "Jurors hear from assistant to
> Hernandez",
> > > B5/6.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > >
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org