[whatwg] Acronyms & Abbreviations whatwg Digest, Vol 33, Issue 90

[Charles McCathieNevile]

HTML group, there has been a discussion in WHATWG about what to do with  
acronym and abbr ...

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:27:04 +0100, Smylers <Smylers at stripey.com> wrote:

> Krzysztof ??elechowski writes:

>> However, the distinction between an acronym and an abbreviation is
>> clear and intuitive.
>
> The fact that in this thread there are people you're disagreeing with
> suggests that however clear it is in your mind, others struggle with it.

I don't speak every world language, so I don't know how universal this is.  
I do speak spanish and english, and have seen the same arguments rage in  
both langauges. It seems that while there are people who find the  
distinction clear, they are not representative of the world at large.

We could attempt to define clearly the meanings in different langauges,  
but that is I think way outside the scope and even more critically the  
ability of this group. We could decide to settle on just one, because in  
the erroneous cases, of which there are many, there is otherwise  
confusion. Or you could consider leaving it alone. I don't see any great  
outcry from those who don't understand the difference and just pick the  
one they think is right. I don't see any likelihood that HTML5 including a  
treatise on shortening terms in various languages will improve the way  
people understand language.

I do see drawbacks in retrospectively outlawing one of these forms, but I  
don't see any benefits.

cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile  Opera Software, Standards Group
     je parle français -- hablo español -- jeg lærer norsk
http://my.opera.com/chaals   Try Opera 9.5: http://snapshot.opera.com