All of the web-based acronym references, including the full HTML web pages, mobile web pages and PDF documents on the Acronyms.net site are generated from a single source document created from our database of acronyms. We are currently using MySQL for the acronym database.
Some acronyms and initialisms are themselves made up of other acronyms. Any acronyms with expanded definitions that contain acronyms that can be expanded further are properly called Recursive Acronyms (3). Here are some examples:
Note that some initialisms such as the SQL/PL acronym, meaning SQL Procedural Language, and the XHTML-MP acronym, meaning XHTML Mobile Profile, which initially might look like they are recursive, are neither recursive acronyms, since the acronym referenced ( SQL and XHTML , respectively) is included in its entirety, nor are they self-referential, since the first word in those acronym definitions reference a different acronym, not the entire acronym itself.
When other acronym references discuss recursive acronyms, the examples given are almost exclusively Self-Referential Recursive Acronyms. Self-Referential Acronyms are a specific subset of recursive acronyms in general.
3) Where the word recursive retains its mathematical meaning of application of an algorithm, to the results obtained from previous iterations using the same algorithm. In this case, the recursive function is the acronym generator algorithm, the procedure of using one or more of the initial letters of each word.
Self-referential acronyms or initialisms are abbreviations with definitions that reference the acronym itself. That is, the entire acronym is included as one of the words in the acronym meaning. Some examples are:
Redundant acronym usage, sometimes humorously called RAS Syndrome, occurs when commonly used acronym phrases include one of the words in the acronym itself. For example:
The redundancy in some of the acronym phrases above is not necessarily improper. For example, you should be able to discuss a specific piece of personal security information such as your PIN number or a specific virus such as the HIV virus in the singular as much as you could talk about your SSN and PIN numbers or the Herpes and HIV viruses. Experimenting with wording in a plural context may help determine whether to use the redundant acronym in a singular context:
In addition to the online acronym references right here at Acronyms .net, here are some links to other online references you might find useful for developing web sites using HTML :
Acronyms .net is not only one site of the Semantic Web but enables web site developers to add semantic content to other web sites. By providing semantic information for any acronyms used on a site, the acronyms become disambiguated. Including this information on a web site also improves the web site's accessibility, by providing additional information for text-to-speech (auditory) browsers, which are used by people with sight disabilities.
Last updated Saturday February 21, 2009
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