"AAA" games

[Treble]

You argue that "FBI" is not pronounced as a word, but it is. It so happens thought that the word "FBI" is pronounced as "eff-bee-eye".

If you pronounce the individual letters, it is an abbreviation, even if it is also recognised as a word. In the past, all abbreviations were punctuated with periods, e.g.

F.B.I.

This practice has now faded, hence the confusion. Just because most abbreviations have lost the periods between them, this doesn't mean they are suddenly words.

Examples:
ID (an abbreviated form of 'identification') is pronounced 'eye-dee', and therefore is not an acronym.

id (as in the id, the Ego and the Super Ego) is a word. It is not an abbreviated form, though, so is neither an acr. or an abb.

Basically, whether an abbreviated form is classed as a word in its own right or not, to be an acronym it has to be a set of abbreviated letters pronounced as a word.

[charlesr]

BTW, you are all banned for thread hijack.

[Corrupt Rose]

BTW, you are all banned for thread hijack.

Bollocks. Especially since I'm the one of the ones who started this little tangent (along with Treble).


-Corrupt Rose

[Treble]

Are you sayng only me and you should be banned then, CR?


I am pretty sure Mr. C was joking anyway. Although he is a bit of a tyrant, to be fair, so I may be wrong.

[Soi]

You argue that "FBI" is not pronounced as a word, but it is. It so happens thought that the word "FBI" is pronounced as "eff-bee-eye".

If you pronounce the individual letters, it is an abbreviation, even if it is also recognised as a word. In the past, all abbreviations were punctuated with periods, e.g.

F.B.I.

This practice has now faded, hence the confusion. Just because most abbreviations have lost the periods between them, this doesn't mean they are suddenly words.

Examples:
ID (an abbreviated form of 'identification') is pronounced 'eye-dee', and therefore is not an acronym.

id (as in the id, the Ego and the Super Ego) is a word. It is not an abbreviated form, though, so is neither an acr. or an abb.

Basically, whether an abbreviated form is classed as a word in its own right or not, to be an acronym it has to be a set of abbreviated letters pronounced as a word.

I don't agree at all!

Going by your argument "FBI" would need full stops between the letters, but "NASA" would not, Only because "NASA" happens to have a set of letters can be "pronounced as a word". This seems very illogical to me.

Anyway, "FBI" has no more need for punctuation between the letter than "LASER". The reason why FBI is an acronym and "Id" is not, is that "FBI" refers to a name of an organisation, abbreviated to a new shorter word. "Id" is simply a shortened form of a single word. The '-nym" part of "acronym" refers to the requirement for it to be a name. Pronunciation has nothing to do with it. An acronym is simply a recognised form of abbreviation for names.

[Yogi]

BTW, you are all banned for thread hijack.

YES!!! You all should be BAN...BAN...BANNED!!!

*sobs*

[Corrupt Rose]

Well, being a tad of a socialist, I don't see why the masses should suffer because of our mistake. [Pulls out two revolvers, and hands one to Treble] I think you know what we need to do.


- Corrupt Rose

[Papercut]

Going by your argument "FBI" would need full stops between the letters, but "NASA" would not, Only because "NASA" happens to have a set of letters can be "pronounced as a word". This seems very illogical to me.

No one was arguing about full stops, Treble was just saying using full stop separators for non-acronym abbreviations used to be common use and made the distinction clearer.

Illogical or not, only NASA is an acronym because it is also a pronouncable word. That doesn't change the fact that FBI and NASA are both abbreviations.

[Treble]

Last post in here, I swear

Soi:

1) Acronyms DID used to have periods in them, anyway! L.A.S.E.R etc. They were still pronounced as words.

2) Regardless of semantics and exploring the Greek origins (which has no relation to the modern usage anyway anymore, really), the definition of acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a word. Despite your examples, this is the accepted definition.

3) What Papercut said

[Soi]

Last post in here, I swear

Soi:

1) Acronyms DID used to have periods in them, anyway! L.A.S.E.R etc. They were still pronounced as words.

2) Regardless of semantics and exploring the Greek origins (which has no relation to the modern usage anyway anymore, really), the definition of acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a word. Despite your examples, this is the accepted definition.

3) What Papercut said

Unlike Treble, I certainly don't swear that this will be my last post here.

I wasn't really making any point about periods, so lets ignore them. But, I will stick to my guns about the definition of acronym, and there is no requirement at all for them to be pronounced as words.

Plus, I have looked in my copy of the Oxford English Reference Dictionary, and it says:

acronym: n. a word, usu. pronounced as such, formed from the initial letters of other words.

You can't argue with me now. It is there is black and white (and rather ironically abbreviated). "Usually pronounced as such". Not always, usually. Throw in the towel?

EDIT: Note that the dictionary does not require the acronym to be an abbreviation of a name, which I thought it did.

[MonkeyWrench]

Anyway, AAA title for me always meant a title that a reasonable number of gamers agree is one of the best games of its type. A system seller is a Killer App. What contistutes a reasonable number of gamers is unquanitifiable, so don't ask me .

So how can a publisher call one of it's games triple A before it's release, when nobody has played it (minus a select few)? Triple A is a term attached to a game by a publisher (and the retail sector) that is predicted to be a huge seller, hopefully sitting at the top of the all formats chart for a lengthy period of time. Enter the Matrix and the new Tomb Raider title are classed as a triple A games. Are they games that a reasonable number of gamers agree is one of the best games of its type?

Anyway....

[Yogi]

I would like to think as how the developer would view the standards.

I'm always skeptical about the western developers, they always do not deliver what they say. Hence the true meaning of their so-called "AAA" games would probably be a "B" standard in my opinion. The japanese, on the other hand, always deliver what they say to the truest meaning.

I think Tomb Raider and Enter the Matrix is a joke, they are out to cheat consumers of their money.

[Treble]

Soi, if you ain't shutting up, neither am I

You can't argue with me now. It is there is black and white (and rather ironically abbreviated). "Usually pronounced as such". Not always, usually. Throw in the towel?

[high pitched, whiny voice]usually not always! usually not always![high pitched, whiny voice]

Gah! If the dictionaries can't agree, how can we?!?! The definitions are..well...definitive in some and not in others, but I'd automatically through out a dictionary that uses 'usually' as a clause >_<

By definition, they're supposed to be definitive! Youchies. Let's leave it there, say we're both right, and blame dictionaries, eh?

As for this 'AAA' thing, it's PR bull****. that's the third time I've said it now....

[Yogi]

As for this 'AAA' thing, it's PR bull****. that's the third time I've said it now....

Don't you like GT3, MGS2?

BTW, I found this "AAA" thingy again at gamespy today.

http://www.gamespy.com/ps2/news.shtml#PQN433249

[Soi]

Soi, if you ain't shutting up, neither am I

You can't argue with me now. It is there is black and white (and rather ironically abbreviated). "Usually pronounced as such". Not always, usually. Throw in the towel?

[high pitched, whiny voice]usually not always! usually not always![high pitched, whiny voice]

Gah! If the dictionaries can't agree, how can we?!?! The definitions are..well...definitive in some and not in others, but I'd automatically through out a dictionary that uses 'usually' as a clause >_<

By definition, they're supposed to be definitive! Youchies. Let's leave it there, say we're both right, and blame dictionaries, eh?

As for this 'AAA' thing, it's PR bull****. that's the third time I've said it now....

Of course. And I am sorry to anyone who thought "Wow a 5 page thread on AAA titles!!!11!!" only to read pages of pedantic waffle about the meaning of a pretty unimportant word.

Final thoughts: There is no doubt that acronyms are usually pronounced as words, but I never thought they had to be. Anyway, language is flexible, and meanings change. Definitions are open to intrepratation anyway, just like the law.

Yeah, AAA is all about marketing.