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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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FAX
This is *supposed to be an acronym for what?
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veteran
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I didn't realize it was an acronym at all. I thought it was a shortening of "fascimile."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
I didn't realize it was an acronym at all. I thought it was a shortening of "fascimile."
Exactly my point. So why is it so often capitalized?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>So why is it so often capitalized?
simple thickheadedness?!
neither M-W nor AHD show capitalization for "fax"; YCLIU.
Last edited by tsuwm; 04/20/06 08:55 PM.
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Quote:
simple thickheadedness?!
... by people confused by FAQs!?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
... by people confused by FAQs!?
I think it predates FAQs. It just looks like it should be an acronym. Besides, there's no X in Facsimile.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I think it's just put in block caps because of where it usually goes, above the address of a letter: VIA AIRMAIL; BY HAND; VIA REA (well, maybe not REA). and FAX is just better than FACS: it's a syllable, and not a syllable and part of another -- if ya want a reason.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Quote:
... by people confused by FAQs!?
I think it predates FAQs.
What always astonishes me is that the fax predates the phone. Demned clever, them cesmes.
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Quote:
Quote:
... by people confused by FAQs!?
I think it predates FAQs. It just looks like it should be an acronym. Besides, there's no X in Facsimile.
These are the jokes, folks (such as they are). FAQs is often pronounced facks just as fax is.
Facs doesn't look like any English word I can think of except sacs which is plural. However, box, fox, sax, Vax, etc. are singular, thus fax follows the spelling "rule" for a singular noun that ends in the "ks" sound. None of which explains why someone would want to use it in all caps.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Facsimile (from fac simile 'make similar') is cited from the mid-17th century in the OED1. It meant a copy or to make a copy. Alexander Bain received the first patent for a facsimile machine in 1843. FAQ (for frequently asked questions) is a Usenet term and dates from the '80s.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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