It's just an acronym, people!

The BBQ Pit
1

The World Wrestling Federation has finally had to cave under pressure from the World Wildlife Foundation and change their name to World Wrestling Entertainment.

For crying out loud, it’s just an acronym! I know the Wildlife organization has been around much longer than the Wrestling organization. But can you own an acronym? Ostensibly, the Wildlife people were fed up with web searches leading to the Wrestling page instead of their own. But the Foundation is non-profit. They don’t have to have a .com address; they should have been .org to begin with.

WWE just doesn’t sound right. The hissing F sounded ominous; a squealing E is weak. As is this.

2

You honestly ask why an organisation that’s spent time and money building a progile around an acronym would rather other organisations didn’t use that acronym?

So you honestly think BP, EDS, SAIC and other companies wouldn’t do the same?

3

The “W” part is crap, as it’s predominantly US-based.

By being honest about its scope, they could keep that menacing hiss:

USWF. You could try saying it aloud, too: “Us Woof”.

4

You should drop the second W as well, as it’s not so much wrestling as bad acting.

So now we’re onto the USBAE. Honesty in advertising and all that.

5

WWF is an alphabetism not an acronym.

6

It’s not really entertainment either is it? More a retarded broadcast for people with no clue

USBARBFPWNC. Hey it sound menacing enough.

7

Gary: There are only 26 letters. By your logic, The Who should have changed their name to avoid confusion with the World Health Organization.

jjimm: I assume you’re being sarcastic, but USWF does sound good.

All others: :stuck_out_tongue:

8

Pardon me? It’s NOT an acronym?:confused:

What is an alphabetism?

9

I can’t believe they didn’t think of this when they were naming the World Wrestling Federation in the first place. The original WWF isn’t exactly low profile, surely someone at the meeting that gave the OTHER WWF it’s name said “Hang on a moment… what if people think we’re the ones who are nice to animals?”

10

Excuse me? Would you like to inform me how I dont have a clue?

Wrestling is nothing more than a crowd interaction theatre with strong men and acrobats. People cheer for the good guys, boo for the bad guys, and enjoy themselves.

Its called Escapism. You might as well throw in all works of fiction in all media as being retarded.

11

Astroboy, I believe **Caught@Work[/b[ is referring to an initialism.

Initialisms: FBI, CIA, AFL-CIO, WWF (pronounced as initials)
Acronyms: NATO, UNICEF, radar, Nabisco (pronounced as words)

12

Aw crap. I plead 6:30 a.m.

13

You sure about those last two? - they aren’t composed entirely of initials, so aren’t they just abbreviations?

14

They should have changed the name to REF Retarded Entertainment Format.

15

Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged:

“acronym . . . a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term (as anzac, radar, snafu)”

The definitions of acronym, initialism, and abbreviation do tend to vary among sources. In common usage, acronym covers all of them, but we copyeditor types tend to break them down further. I was just supplying the more common term (I’ve never met alphabetism, and it’s not defined as used here in any of my dictionaries).

Carry on with the original rant!

16

Then what about Star Trek?

17

Suspensions, proprement dit.

Also, please note that UNICEF no longer stands for the organization’s actual full name - maybe UNESCO would be a better example.

18

Klingon B!tch-Slap @ TwistofFate

19

Radar=Radio Detecting and Ranging
Nabisco=National Biscuit Company

I guess they would be abbreviations.

And regarding the original post: It’s the World Wildlife Fund, not Foundation. Yeah, nitpicking, I know.

I must say I like the WWE’s punny slogan regarding their name change: “Get the F out.”

20

c’mon Matt, did you not see Voyager? even the WWE has more better storylines and acting :wink: