denvan

Comments by denvan

• denvan commented on the word nomonym

  Van Staalduinen, on the word "nomonym":

  "Of course I'm being playful with this word, and using it to make the point that a name -- which is supposed to be a practical communication tool -- actually becomes a barrier to communication, somebody's got to stand up and say NO MO!"

  Alternate long-form for Nomonym: "NO More Obscure Names!"

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the word nomonym

  NOUN: (in nomenclature) a short nickname or code name which is used as a proxy for a longer name.

  The word nomonym is itself an abbreviation of "NO More Obscure Names(-nyms)", and can be shortened further to "nomo" - as in "no more".

  This term was coined by brand naming expert Dennis Van Staalduinen as an umbrella term for the whole range of shortened names including initialisms, alphabetisms, and other abbreviated short forms.

  It grows out of Van Staalduinen's frustration with the tendency of technical or highly bureaucratic organizations to apply internal shorthand to externally facing products, programs, and organizations - to which Mr. Van Staalduinen says "NO MO!".

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the word alphabetism

  Term has broader uses, but as applied to nomenclature, this is the best definition I could find:

  alphabetism (plural alphabetisms)

  An initialism: an abbreviation which is read letter-by-letter, such as "U.N."

  http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alphabetism

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the word initialism

  Wordnik definition (via AHD)

  NOUN: An abbreviation consisting of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase (for example, IRS for Internal Revenue Service), syllables or components of a word (TNT for trinitrotoluene), or a combination of words and syllables (ESP for extrasensory perception) and pronounced by spelling out the letters one by one rather than as a solid word.

  http://www.wordnik.com/words/initialism

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the word initialism

  Best definition:

  NOUN: an abbreviation formed from initial letters

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initialism

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the list begtodiffer-com-words-dealing-with-the-problem-of-abbreviated-names

  Merriam-webster cops out on this one by adding the words "an abbrevition (as: FBI)

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym

  This is just wrong, since an acronym must at least be a "-nym", that is the name of something.

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the list begtodiffer-com-words-dealing-with-the-problem-of-abbreviated-names

  Clearest definition:

  Noun: A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women's Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging. - American Heritage Dictionary

  http://www.wordnik.com/words/acronym

  July 27, 2009

• denvan commented on the word branding

  What's missing here is the modern business sense of branding, which I define as "the process of organizing a company's products, messages, and corporate identity to help consumers understand who they are and what they do."

  June 23, 2009