We don’t need to. But we do it anyway for ease of language flow. See: Every single contraction, some of which don’t even reduce syllables. Just contacted to make the tongue say it faster.
just wait until you hear about people saying “comp sci” or worse, “poli sci”. if you are so pressed for time that you can’t afford to say all the syllables in “computer science” you can use an acronym. i will still be upset about the acronym, but i can live with it
Those examples are abbreviations, not acronyms. Acronyms use initial letters (though people have gotten lazy with that to get nice sounding acronyms), whereas abbreviations are a category containing shortened words and also acronyms.
I would also like to note that the ‘poli’ in ‘poli sci’ is way too close to the prefix ‘poly’ to not cause confusion. This is just one example of an abbreviation causing confusion among those not yet aware of the meaning. That’s why when addressing a general audience I avoid them or in longer conversations introduce them first.
my point is that people should use acronyms instead of those abbreviations. e.g., “CS” instead of “comp sci”. i hate those abbreviations. and you’re right that the “poli” does cause confusion. it always takes me a second to figure out what people mean when they say it. i think we’re on the same side here.
Why do we need to shorten a two syllable word?
My knees hurt.
We don’t need to. But we do it anyway for ease of language flow. See: Every single contraction, some of which don’t even reduce syllables. Just contacted to make the tongue say it faster.
just wait until you hear about people saying “comp sci” or worse, “poli sci”. if you are so pressed for time that you can’t afford to say all the syllables in “computer science” you can use an acronym. i will still be upset about the acronym, but i can live with it
I’m so old I remember a time when sci-fi fans were offended by the term “sci-fi”, preferring “SF”.
I remember a huge rumbling when the Sci-fi channel changed its name to SyFy. Neither word even has Y’s!!
I’m gonna go sit on the bench with the other’s while I rub my knees.
No matter how many times I see “SyFy”, my brain always thinks “sih-fee”.
Those examples are abbreviations, not acronyms. Acronyms use initial letters (though people have gotten lazy with that to get nice sounding acronyms), whereas abbreviations are a category containing shortened words and also acronyms.
I would also like to note that the ‘poli’ in ‘poli sci’ is way too close to the prefix ‘poly’ to not cause confusion. This is just one example of an abbreviation causing confusion among those not yet aware of the meaning. That’s why when addressing a general audience I avoid them or in longer conversations introduce them first.
my point is that people should use acronyms instead of those abbreviations. e.g., “CS” instead of “comp sci”. i hate those abbreviations. and you’re right that the “poli” does cause confusion. it always takes me a second to figure out what people mean when they say it. i think we’re on the same side here.
Since we’re down the pedantry rabbit hole, “CS” is an initialism, not an acronym.
i can’t believe that i didn’t even know the difference until now. i hope i don’t lose my pedant card because of this