Re: Use of ACRONYM

--- "Charles F. Munat" <chas(at)munat.com> wrote:
> The U.S. military (maybe militaries worldwide) is
> famous for using 
> acronyms, and they are *always* pronounced as words
> (they are usually 
> much longer than the initials would be). Examples:
> 
> CINCPAC (sink-pack) for Commander-in-chief, Pacific
> fleet
> COMSUBLANT (com-sub-lant) for Commander, Submarine
> Fleet, Atlantic Ocean

While the two examples you cite are definitely
pronounced as words and therefore indisputably
acronyms, the US Military boasts many abbreviations
that are not pronounced as words. 

USMC is always uu-ess-em-sea.  PACFLT is pronounced
pac-fleet, so the abbreviation FLT is pronounced as
the word for which it is an abbreviation.  HQ is h-q,
not huck.  MREs are em-ar-ee, not mree (Meal
Ready-to-Eat).

The command where I work is alternatively NNOC
(letters = abbreviation) and CNNOC (sin-nock,
word=acronym). 

This may not be a helpful digression, but I just
wanted to clear this point. 

Regards, Diane
SAIC Contractor in support of NNOC

=====
Diane Boettcher
dcboet(at)yahoo.com
Help Afgan women at: http://www.rawa.org/
"Losing money is the worst guideline violation of them all."
- Jakob Nielson

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