This has got to be the most inane point in the history of the world.
Not sure what is so difficult about using a three-letter acronym correctly.
12 hours to go folks. Good Luck!
he is probably french where EST mean EAST.
god you are so smart. i bet you passed. such a genius.
If you want to be so pedantic, perhaps you should learn the definition of “acronym”: an initialism that is pronounced as a word (that’s the -nym part).
_ EDT _ is an initialism, but it isn’t an acronym: nobody pronounces it as a word. _ NASA _ is an acronym. _ Snafu _ is an acronym. _ GPS _ is not. Neither is _ EDT _.
Not sure what your source is, but that’s complete bollocks.
I searched briefly on Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, and Merriam-Webster. From the latter two:
noun
- a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of wordsand pronounced as a separate word, as Wac from Women’s Army Corps, OPEC from Organization ofPetroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation. 2. a set of initials representing a name, organization, or the like, with each letter pronouncedseparately; an initialism.
a word (as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters : initialism
I wasn’t trying to make anyone feel stupid, just pointing out a correction. You, OTOH, were trying to demean someone with your “superior” knowledge - yet despite your arrogant “correction,” you are objectively wrong.
Reread definition 1. that you cited above. That’s exactly what I said.
Definition 2. stems from people who misunderstand the origin of the word, much like those who use “decimate” to mean “anihilate”.
As for your contention that you were simply trying to point out a correction, your “Not sure what is so difficult about using a three-letter acronym correctly.” belies that.
Initialisms use the word “the” in front of it. So although I’m not certain, EDT would still be an acronym. Whereas NSA would be an initialism since in a sentence you would say “The NSA spied on my email”
I think this is covered in Level IV
people getting stressed and cranky
The key is whether it is pronounced as a word: NASA, WAC, snafu, laser, radar, POTUS, and fubar are acronyms; EDT, GPS, NSA, PPM, and SEC are initialisms, but not acronyms.
Because (ignorant) people have so frequently misused “acronym” to mean “initialism”, the second definition, above, has taken hold; it’s an abomination.
Yup.
I completely agree that the first definition is exactly how’ve you claimed the word should be used.
However, it is absurd to say that the second listing in a well-respected dictionary - unless accompanied by a caveat such as “non-standard usage” or the like - is based on a misuse or misunderstanding of the word.
The contention of mine to which you allude was in reference to the original misuse of the word/acronym/abbreviation/whatchamacallit. Your quote was my response to someone who dismissed my point as “inane,” so I don’t understand what relevance you’re purporting it to have.
As someone who enjoys learning [mundane] details about the world, and particularly as someone who has invested a lot of time, money, and energy learning foreign languages, I don’t understand why you’re being so irascible about this (admittedly pedantic) point, as some people may find it a bit of interesting trivia (at worst) and even useful (at best).
I’ll even concede that “your” definition is linguistically correct.
cranky is the word!
Chill everyone. Less than 11 hours left 
Can’t you see we’re just trying to distract ourselves from that?! 
wtf has happened to this thread??? time zones and acronynms???
Good Luck guys.
Had been mildly confident about my chances all summer long until now!! I think I’m borderline right now and it really comes down to one or two questions going the right way. I hope I can get a couple hours of sleep tonight, but its going to be hard! Good Luck to everyone tomorrow… especially to my boy Tom Clark. He needs to catch a break after the belaboring he’s taken over the past few weeks!
Chill friends. Results will be mailed out after 9 AM in the U.S. East coast time zone. Although we all know its more like 12 PM…
No worries, this thread has been a good “pressure buster” for those reading and those participating Good luck!