Undertow Games Forum

I'd like to start by saying that I'm an English major, and I'm not trying to be a dick, I want to help SCP:CB whenever I can. There's a grammatical concern I'd like to raise for the text of one of the loading screens. I can't recall the exact text, but it starts off with "The acronym SCP stands for special containment procedures..."

My problem is that SCP isn't technically an acronym. It is an abbreviation, but not an acronym.

An acronym is an abbreviation taken from the first letters of words that is also pronounceable as its own word.

I understand that there are some who might think that SCP can be pronounced by its colloquial reference in some of the stories on the wiki as "skip" or even "Esseepee". However, that pronunciation is called an initialism, not an acronym.

Once again, I love SCP:CB, and I want it to look like the labor of love that it is. I'm not trying to be a grammar nazi, (I prefer linguistic paladin) I'm just trying to help.

Jeeves wrote:linguistic paladin

brb dying

But seriously, That still sounds like nit-picking.

If my only criticism is about a small grammar issue, that means the game is otherwise awesome. Besides, grammar is important in making the game seem polished.

I'm not saying the game is bad because of the error, I'm saying there is an error and it could be fixed.

Actually, Skips are reality benders, not SCPs.

Fix'd

I'm sure there are a lot more grammar errors and poor wording in the game (especially in the parts written by me, as English isn't my first language), and I don't see pointing them out as nitpicking. So if anyone spots anything else that could use fixing, please let me know. :)

I remember seeing a couple, I'll try to find them.

Jeeves wrote:My problem is that SCP isn't technically an acronym.

Uh, yes it is.

An acronym is a term that is formed from the initial letters of some longer name and is pronounced differently than the expanded form.

An abbreviation is written differently from the expanded form but is pronounced the same.

Okay Regalis. I'm glad I could help. If I spot any more, is there a different topic more suited for reporting of grammar/text issues? Perhaps one of the bug reporting topics?

CommanderPro100 wrote:

Jeeves wrote:My problem is that SCP isn't technically an acronym.

Uh, yes it is.

Forgive me if I was unclear, but the difference between abbreviations and acronyms (which are both types of initialisms) is pretty concrete. Before I get into this, I want to say I'm not nitpicking, I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm trying to help. Certain words are in boldface because I feel the need to draw attention to them. Not trying to flame here. I love you guys too much.

To clarify, the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation is thus:

Both acronyms and abbreviations are taken from the first letters of multiple words (and sometimes a letter the creator of the initialism deems important,) and condensed into just those characters.

In order for any abbreviation to be an acronym, it must be pronounceable as its own word. That's the difference. It's not which letters were picked for the job, it's not the order they appear, it's not the fact that they're capitalized. It's the fact that the abbreviation is pronounceable as a word rather than needing to be spelled letter-by-letter. For example:
FBI is an abbreviation of Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Note that the O for of is dropped from the initialism.) You can't pronounce FBI as fuh-bye, and eff-bee-eye isn't a word.
AIDS is an acronym. You can pronounce the abbreviation of Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome as its own word, thus it is an Acronym.
The abbreviation SCP lacks any vowels, and thus is not considered to be pronounceable as its own word. Colloquialisms such as "Skip" and "Esseepee" do not count.
All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms.

This is all according to the editing handbook from my professional and technical editing class.

Actually, "Skip" refers to reality benders. The word you are looking for is "Scips" which is an actual acronym for SCPs.

Good to know! Thanks, I'll try to remember that.