this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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This is a collection of things that I find interesting.
Mainly, mainly it's a place for me to post into the void for my own trail of hyperlinks.
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An initialization is a type of acronymization. If you're going to be a pedant, at least be correct. It's kinda the whole thing.
Secondly, creating an acronym from an abbreviation is lazy AF, and I pointed out the Mt + B in my comment "Moun Tain Biking", so let's try reading for comprehension instead of skimming for reaction.
I admit I didn't know an initialism was a kind of acronym.
But there are other examples of acronyms that use two letters to represnt one word. AWOL stands for Absent WithOut Leave. Same concept. By your strict logic it should be AWL. You could counter by pointing out that 'without' is a compound word, thus making it a false equivalence, but who cares? The mountainbiking community has been using MTB without issue. Like, what are the consequences of using MTB instead of MB?
Your comments come off as condescending and unnecessary. If you had just pointed out how curious it was that MTB doesn't follow the traditional convention that would fine. But you decided to call into question the intelligence of those who created the acronym when it really isn't a big deal. That's the only reason I felt it was necessary to comment. Not because I thought you were wrong, but because I thought you were being unnecessarily judgemental.
Edit: two more examples of acronyms with more letters than words they represent (RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging, SONAR - Sound Navigation And Ranging)
WO is already an acronym for "without", and thus AWOL builds from there. None of your other examples are compound words. Furthermore, by merit of your initial example here, Mountain Biking should've been MTNB all along. It's an unfortunate predicament to come off as condescending when one's argument partner is defending from an inferior position, I agree.
Mt is already an acronym for "mountain", and thus MTB builds from there.
You still haven't addressed my question. Why does it matter? What is the purpose of making character judgements (illiterate , lazy) about a group of people who didn't follow the conventions you expected when abbreviating their hobby? I don't actually need the answer to that question. But it might help you to find it for yourself.
"Mt." is not an acronym. Neither is "Mtn.", FYI. I hope you find the answers you so clearly need, friend.