WORD GEEK | WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NASA & IBM?

02:41

Is everyone clear on the difference between an abbreviation and an acronym?

So just me then?

Great.

{The word geekery is still going strong yo'all}

Last night, around 3AM, I had to get out of bed and switch on my laptop to put this inquisition to rest and here's what Google told me

abbreviation

əbriːvɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

a shortened form of a word or phrase.

"SKU is the abbreviation for Stock Keeping Unit"

So, IBM is an abbreviation

acronym

ˈakrənɪm/

noun

an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA ).

Therefore, NASA is an acronym

Now since I was already online, I wanted to go further. Remember in high school how we'd create a string of abbreviations to memorize certain information? Like,VIBGYOR- the reverse order of colours in a rainbow or BODMAS (!) in Maths? .

mnemonic

nɪˈmɒnɪk/

noun

1.

a system such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations which assists in remembering something.

"the usual mnemonic for star types is O Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me"

So VIBGYOR is a mnemonic but also an acronym?

I wonder why SKU is not pronouced skoo and become an acronym?

I need to get some sleep.

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