• Bassman1805@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 month ago

    It’s an abbreviation.

    Not all abbreviations are acronyms, only the ones that take the first letter from each word. Lego takes two letters from each word, so it’s not an acronym.

    On a similar note, some but not all acronyms are initialisms, if they’re spoken as the letters rather than the “word” they create.

    FYI, DIY, PS are all initialisms, and also acronyms, and also abbreviations. ASAP, SCUBA, and LASER are acronyms and abbreviations, but not initialisms. Lego, appt, and st are all abbreviations but neither acronyms nor initialisms.

    • lime!@feddit.nu
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      why is english like this… we just call it “shortening”.

        • lime!@feddit.nu
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 month ago

          in my language we tend to use base words to broadly describe concepts, and combinations of words for more accuracy.

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      That’s a really good breakdown of the differences!

      Now if you’ll excuse me I have a few Ell-Ee-Gee-Oh sets to put together. :p