I’m reading a court opinion that uses “e/s/a” in a case caption, similar to the way one might use a/k/a or d/b/a.
What does it mean?
Okay, I think I have an answer. I think it means “erroneously sued as.”
Does this make sense?
I’ve never seen that before. Not that I’m an expert, but I can’t believe that it’s in “common” usage.
I hadn’t heard it before either. It might just be a quirk of the Ninth Circuit. Or maybe a particular clerk in the Ninth Circuit.
Acronymfinder does list that possibility on their sixth page of acronym definitions for “ESA”.
enough / slashes / already !
I read it as “enigmatic slash acronym”.
I agree. I can’t understand why it isn’t like any other abbreviation: a.k.a., d.b.a., etc.
In pleading headers, aka and dba usually use the slashie format too.
:dubious: I know that. That’s why they’re that way in the OP and in the threat title! I’m saying they should use periods like any other normal abbreviation.
I always knew the law was Farked.
/ Obscure?
This isn’t an acronym. Acronyms are specifically pronounceable words created with the first letters of a series of words, like SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). This is just an abbreviation.
Fighting ignorance, one obnoxious nitpick at a time!
Sez who? Well, I don’t vehemently disagree but initialism is a really stupid alternative.
Um, sez every google result that turned up when I searched for definitions of “acronym.” I don’t know what you have against the word “initialism.” Why is it “really stupid?”
Did you check Merriam-Webster?
(Emphasis mine).
I prefer to keep the narrower definition of the word acronym, although I will sometimes use it in its more general sense because that seems to be the way the word is going, and I’d be mighty tired of correcting everyone who doesn’t use the word in the narrow sense.
Try these two: Acronym Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster and
Initialism originally described abbreviations formed from initials, without reference to pronunciation. During the mid-20th century, when such abbreviations became increasingly common, the word acronym was coined for abbreviations pronounced as words, such as NATO and AIDS. Of the names, acronym is the most frequently used and known; many use it to describe any abbreviation formed from initial letters.
Of course who am I to complain a fellow pedant is promoting pedantry in the name of fighting ignorance? One man’s nit is another man’s abscess, I realize.
I have other equally worthless opinions about stupid words. I do think the polloi are going to win the battle over preserving acronym to be pronounceable words, though. Try “initialism” out on a few of your friends. Perhaps they are of higher quality than mine…