NSGMLS ??

[Roedy Green]

"NSGMLS" = "N? Standard Generalised Markup Language S?",

I am putting the finishing touches on code that ensures any acronym is
defined the first time it is used on a page of the Java glossary.
However, I have one acronym NSGMLS that I have hit a brick wall on
finding a definition. Any guesses on what it means?

 

[Eric Sosman]

"NSGMLS" = "N? Standard Generalised Markup Language S?",

I am putting the finishing touches on code that ensures any acronym is
defined the first time it is used on a page of the Java glossary.
However, I have one acronym NSGMLS that I have hit a brick wall on
finding a definition. Any guesses on what it means?

"Noel" Sing Good Men, Lifting Spirits.

Google has "about 35,300" other guesses ...

 

[Lew]

"Noel" Sing Good Men, Lifting Spirits.

Google has "about 35,300" other guesses ...

The very first hit on that Google search for me looks like the one Roedy wants.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NSGMLS

 

[Michael Jung]

[...]
The very first hit on that Google search for me looks like the one Roedy wants.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NSGMLS

That doesn't explain the acronym (At least I couldn't find it in the
text). Since it's James Clark's software, you should probably ask him
for an "authoritive" explanation. From the text I assume "N = New" and
(trailing) "S = System".

Michael

 

[Roedy Green]

The very first hit on that Google search for me looks like the one Roedy wants.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NSGMLS

I know what it is. I just don't know what the acronym stands for. If
you look at all those google entries, you will discover they never
tell you.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

I know what it is. I just don't know what the acronym stands for. If
you look at all those google entries, you will discover they never
tell you.

What about "TWAIN"? (Technology Without An Interesting Name).
Yes, that is really what the acronym stands for. Does that help at
all?

How about "LASER"? Which is usually "laser" now and even has a
back-formation "lase".

A student assembler that was at use at Simon Fraser University in
the late '70s was called "NIP", which stood for "Nothing In
Particular".

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

(snip)

How about "LASER"? Which is usually "laser" now and even has a
back-formation "lase".

Maybe getting too far off topic, but Light Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation.

Before that, there was the MASER (Microwave ...) and there were so many
papers sent in to Physical Review (the usual journal for physics papers)
on the MASER that they had someone send them back without review.

When a paper on an Optical MASER was sent it, following the rules, it
was sent back without review. As a result, the first paper on the
LASER, as I understand it, was published in the New York Times.

Sometime later, Physical Review figured out the mistake and published.

Yes there is a verb form, to lase, very strange.

-- glen

 

[Lew]

I know what it is. I just don't know what the acronym stands for. If
you look at all those google entries, you will discover they never
tell you.

What evidence do you have that it's an acronym? If the founding link (that
first link in the Google search) doesn't mention it, how would any other source
be authoritative?

That founding link has an email address on it. If that address is active still, you can write the author and ask him.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

What evidence do you have that it's an acronym? If the founding link (that

It is not very pronouncable.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Roedy Green]

What evidence do you have that it's an acronym? If the founding link (that
first link in the Google search) doesn't mention it, how would any other source
be authoritative?

Because it contains another acronym SGML Standard Generalised Markup
Language

It is not pronounceable. That is another clue.

I wrote the author. He did not respond.

Sometimes acronyms are a joke and when the product acquires prestige,
the author wishes the acronym deviation would go away.

Sun disavowed JDBC meaning anything because I gather they did not
like giving homage to Microsoft's ODBC.

There is one acronym in the Java glossary whose name escapes me. They
refuse to divulge the meaning of their acronym saying it reflects
their early history and they are much bigger than that now.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

... just as ROEDY contains Oxford English Dictionary?

....and "Sosman" has "SOS" which is often considered an acronym for
"Save Our Souls" and other similar variations though it is not
actually an acronym.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Jim Gibson]

Because it contains another acronym SGML Standard Generalised Markup
Language

To be accurate and pedantic, NSGML is not an "acronym", it is a
"initialism".

It is not pronounceable. That is another clue.

If it were pronounceable, and you pronounced it as a word rather than
saying its letters, then it would be an acronym.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

To be accurate and pedantic, NSGML is not an "acronym", it is a
"initialism".

Here is the first definition for initialism at
dictionary.reference.com:

"a name or term formed from the initial letters of a group of words
and pronounced as a separate word, as NATO for North Atlantic Treaty
organization; an acronym."

If it were pronounceable, and you pronounced it as a word rather than
saying its letters, then it would be an acronym.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Arne Vajhøj]

Because it contains another acronym SGML Standard Generalised Markup

So employee is an acronym because EE is an acronym
for Enterprise Edition.

(OK - I am not first with the argument, but I did pick
a Java relevant acronym)

Arne

 

[Roedy Green]

Here is the first definition for initialism at
dictionary.reference.com:

the OED defines them this way:

acronym: a word formed from the initial letters of other words:
e.g.LASER

initialism: a abbreviation formed of initial letters pronounced
separetely: e.g. BBC

So it seems that initialisms are a subset of acronyms.

So that would make NSGMLS both an acronym and an initialism. However
if you pronounce it N S G M Lz then it is no longer an initialism.