Acronyms and Abbreviations

Today I want to ramble a bit about Acronyms. Quite often any abbreviation is referred to as an Acronym. Acronym sounds so learned. Abbreviation is so basic. Just about anybody knows what it means. But wait! Acronym is only applicable to an abbreviation that is read as a word. It is that simple and straightforward. Radio Detection And Ranging is abbreviated to RADAR and is read as spelt. So it is an acronymn. So is QANTAS (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services). But not BBC, 4U2C, HRC, ABC, and so on and so on. Over here is Malaysia we have quite a few political parties. Among the well known ones, MCA, MIC, DAP and PKR are all abbreviations. UMNO and PAS are acronyms.