And a reverse-engineered acronym, where the acronym spells out an existing word and was (most likely) constructed on purpose so as to end up that way – e.g., “VISTA” (volunteers in service to america), “WIN” (whip inflation now), “LEO” ([ny public] Library Entrance Online), etc. – is a "bacronym"
OK, all you people who think that there’s a distinction between an acronym and an initialism (or abbreviation) depending on its pronunciation, please tell me whether the following examples are acronyms or not:
Both of these, and there are others, but I can’t think of them right now, can and are pronounced as both a sequence of letters and in some other way (which I assume is what is meant by pronounced as a “word”). Sometimes by the same person in different contexts. So are they acronyms or initialisms?
Both.
It depends on the way it’s used.
That’s kind of like asking whether ‘y’ is a vowel or a consonant.
As I said, it is a view that is commonly (but erroneously) held. The folks at Encarta are less than current on the origin of word/phrases. Ditto for a “generic” version of “Webster’s” dictionary. The term “Webster’s” can be used by anyone writing a dictionary.
The only respected dictionary to use that name is Merriam-Webster’s. Those folks do their homework and are the ultimate general purpose dictionary available today. They are exceeded only by the OED, which has a whole different purpose, budget, and etc.
Neither of these dictionaries still attribute “JEEP” to “General Purpose.” I’m sure we’ve even done threads on here about the origins of the term.
Trust me on this one. It almost certainly did NOT come from “General Purpose.”
This topic has been argued several times in GQ and I’ve contributed to several (all?) of them. I don’t feel like rehashing my posts, so just read these threads, especially the first one which is short: