# e/s/a (used like a/k/a or d/b/a) What does it mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158 "2008-01-03T18:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/1 "2008-01-03T18:48:28Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/2 "2008-01-03T18:58:46Z")
Okay, I think I have an answer. I think it means “erroneously sued as.” Does this make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/3 "2008-01-04T06:37:24Z")
I’ve never seen that before. Not that I’m an expert, but I can’t believe that it’s in “common” usage. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/4 "2008-01-04T14:54:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/5 "2008-01-04T14:58:19Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Okay, I think I have an answer. I think it means “erroneously sued as.” Does this make sense? [/QUOTE] [Acronymfinder](http://acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=esa&String=exact&s=r&page=6) does list that possibility on their sixth page of acronym definitions for “ESA”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/6 "2008-01-04T16:09:41Z")
enough / slashes / already ! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/7 "2008-01-04T16:13:51Z")
I read it as “enigmatic slash acronym”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/8 "2008-01-04T16:25:32Z")
I agree. I can’t understand why it isn’t like any other abbreviation: a.k.a., d.b.a., etc. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/9 "2008-01-04T16:31:45Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I agree. I can’t understand why it isn’t like any other abbreviation: a.k.a., d.b.a., etc. [/QUOTE] In pleading headers, aka and dba usually use the slashie format too. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/10 "2008-01-04T16:37:08Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] In pleading headers, aka and dba usually use the slashie format too. [/QUOTE] :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. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/11 "2008-01-04T16:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] In pleading headers, aka and dba usually use the slashie format too. [/QUOTE] I always knew the law was Farked. / Obscure? ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/12 "2008-01-04T18:31:05Z")
[QUOTE=The Controvert] I read it as “enigmatic slash acronym”. [/QUOTE] 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! ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/13 "2008-01-04T18:38:29Z")
[QUOTE=WoodenTaco] 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! [/QUOTE] Sez who? Well, I don’t vehemently disagree but _initialism_ is a really stupid alternative. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/14 "2008-01-04T18:49:24Z")
[QUOTE=Chief Pedant] Sez who? Well, I don’t vehemently disagree but _initialism_ is a really stupid alternative. [/QUOTE] 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?” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/15 "2008-01-04T19:02:15Z")
[QUOTE=WoodenTaco] 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?” [/QUOTE] Did you check Merriam-Webster? > [@](#): > > 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: initialism\*\* > — ac·ro·nym·ic \ˌa-krə-ˈni-mik\ adjective > — ac·ro·nym·i·cal·ly -mi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb (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. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-s-a-used-like-a-k-a-or-d-b-a-what-does-it-mean/432158/16 "2008-01-04T19:03:47Z")
[QUOTE=WoodenTaco] 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?” [/QUOTE] Try these two: [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/acronym](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/acronym) and > **[Acronym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym)** > > An acronym is an abbreviation formed using the initial letters of a multi-word name or phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps with no punctuation. > > In English, the word is used in two ways. In the narrow sense, an acronym is a sequence of letters (representing the initial letters of words in a phrase) when pronounced together as a single word, like NASA, NATO, or laser. In the broad sense, the term includes this kind of sequence when pronounced lett... _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…