Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations Dictionary: A Guide to Alphabetic Designations, Contractions, Acronyms, Initialisms, Abbreviations, and Similar Condensed Appellations ed. by Ellen T. Crowley (review)

BOOK REVIEWS157 that adds to the clarification ofThomas Pynchon's artistic design, and to the charm of Thomas Pynchon the artist. PENELOPE PRICE, Arizona State University Ellen T. Crowley, editor. Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations Dictionary: A Guide to Alphabetic Designations, Contractions, Acronyms, Initialisms, Abbreviations , and Similar Condensed Appellations. Seventh Edition, Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1980, xv, l,330p. Crowley's book is a dictionary of onomastic clippings, from AAAAAA to ZZZZ, and is a very impressive piece of research. But as the title suggests, there are many different types of clippings. One type is the acronym: "An acronym is composed of the initial letters or parts of a compound term, usually read or spoken as a single word, rather than letter by letter. Examples include RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) and LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)" (pages viii-ix). Another type is the initialism: "An initialism is also composed of the initial letters or parts of a compound term, but is generally verbalized letter by letter, rather than as a single "word." Examples include PO (Post Office) and RPM (Revolutions per Minute) (page ix). Abbreviations: are studied also: "An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or words that does not follow the information of either of the above. Examples include APR (April), Ph D (Doctor ofPhilosophy), and DR (Doctor)" (page ix). Crowley includes a special "twilight-zone" category: "Also included in AIAD are many alphabetic symbols, in which the letters used do not always correspond to the words that they represent. Included in this category are R, a missile launch environment symbol for Ship, and T, representing Meridian Anglex" (page ix). It is ironic that both the AAAAAA and the ZZZZ listings fall into this twilight-zone category, for AAAAAA (page 3) stands for a satirical nonassociation : "Association for the Alleviation of Asinine Abbreviations and Absurd Acronyms ,"1 while ZZZZ is also a nonentry, as it is glossed as "Unknown Elements in Formatted Flight Plan [Aviation code]" (page 1330). In their promotional literature, the publishers indicate that this dictionary "...is the key to the breezy language of modern communication" (News Release dated September, 1980). The dictionary itself admits the controversial status of onomastic clippings, and indicates the need for such clippings; "In modern times, breakneck progress in electronics, space exploration, and data processing brought new concepts , new projects, and new instruments. It also brought new acronymic forms to save precious inches of newsprint and precious seconds of broadcast time, to serve as cloaks of military secrecy and as spotlights on products, ideas, and programs that the public was expected to support, admire, or purchase" (page vii). At the same time, the dictionary expresses the opposing point ofview by quoting Dr. Anatole Sliosberg of the International Federation of Translators: "...whenever you open a scientific, technical, or economic publication, or even a daily newspaper, you are immediately struck by the number of apparently meaningless letter or syllable combinations which the most knowledgeable reader cannot decipher without the aid of a dictionary or keen sense of divination " (page x). Since Gale was unable to provide us with a "keen sense of divination," they did what they could do — provided us with a dictionary. These quotes relating to the pro and con of onomastic clipping represent what I feel to be both the primary strength of the dictionary (its socio-political orientation), and its glaring weakness (its naivete regarding linguistics and nameresearch ). Why did the editors not mention that the primary reason organizations 158ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW use onomastic clippings is the growing number of organizations, and the need for names ,making finer and finer distinctions or special identifications, with these qualifications and modifiers and limiters and determiners making the names so long that they are unwieldy and must therefore be abbreviated in some way. This process of modification and subsequent clipping has reached the point that there is now an organization named the "International Association of Professional Bureaurats" or INATAPROBU. This acronym is listed in the dictionary (page 576), where it is indicated that the organization's former name was NATAPROBU, but where there is no indication that this organization, like AAAAAA, is totally a satiric nonorganization . The dictionary...