• Ziglin (they/them)
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    36 days ago

    Those examples are abbreviations, not acronyms. Acronyms use initial letters (though people have gotten lazy with that to get nice sounding acronyms), whereas abbreviations are a category containing shortened words and also acronyms.

    I would also like to note that the ‘poli’ in ‘poli sci’ is way too close to the prefix ‘poly’ to not cause confusion. This is just one example of an abbreviation causing confusion among those not yet aware of the meaning. That’s why when addressing a general audience I avoid them or in longer conversations introduce them first.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 days ago

      my point is that people should use acronyms instead of those abbreviations. e.g., “CS” instead of “comp sci”. i hate those abbreviations. and you’re right that the “poli” does cause confusion. it always takes me a second to figure out what people mean when they say it. i think we’re on the same side here.

      • Subverb
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        25 days ago

        Since we’re down the pedantry rabbit hole, “CS” is an initialism, not an acronym.

        • @[email protected]
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          15 days ago

          i can’t believe that i didn’t even know the difference until now. i hope i don’t lose my pedant card because of this