I Have Random Thoughts

Actually... No. :D
Many abbreviations that people call acronyms are actually initialisms. The difference between acronyms and initialisms is that acronyms are pronounced as a word (like NATO) and initialisms are pronounced letter by letter (like EU or FBI)

correct :)
Apart from the fact that any shorter form is an abbreviation, including acronyms and initialisms. Abbreviations don't neccesarilly end with a dot.

Okay @capturer so SCUBA is actually an acronym because we use it as a word and WTF is an initialism because we just say the letters?

an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word

Yep. Initialisms are pronounced letter by letter and acronyms as a word.

Wow! I did not expect a joke to spark such a discussion.. But yeah!

I'm so glad I posted this! Ya learn something new everyday!

Thank you all for your insights!

All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are an acronym.
Shortening "Avenue" to "Ave." is an abbreviation, because it is the shortened version of the word, but it's not an acronym, because AVE is not a new word comprised of the first letters of a phrase.

Yes, it is.

lol :)

AAMOF as a matter of fact

I thin abbreviations and Acronyms are basically the same thing

Abbr. is an abbreviation but not an acronym, which is a form of abbreviation.

Nope, for it to be an acronym it needs to be pronounced like a word.

As a statement you would use !! instead of ??
😊 Nice!

Ha! Ha! Ha! Love it..

HIIKBIWFOIYWMT!

Yepper

Ah. I never heard of the term initialism. So WTF, TGIF, ikr are initalisms, radar and laser are acronyms and miss. is an abbreviation? And an abreviation should always end with a dot?

And thank you missassypants. I learned something new as well. :)

Yes. It means wonderful toes and feet!

@butterfly - So that means that WTF is not an acronym but an abbreviation?

Well, imho it's an important matter to be discussed.

So WTF is an abbreviation that is also an acronym?

So what's the exact difference?