[IRCA] Acronyms (off topic)

["Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@xxxxxxx>]

The letters EDN began life as an acronym, but as the magazine approaches its
50th anniversary (I think it's in September of this year), I can tell you
that the letters aren't an acronym and haven't been one for almost 50 years.
Originally, EDN stood for Electrical Design News. Electronic Design
Magazine, one of EDN's major competitors, is a few years older than EDN and
Rogers Publishing, the company that started EDN, figured that using the
words electronic and design in their new magazine's title was a certain way
to be sued by Electronic Design. But there was a problem with the name
Electrical Design News: electrical design is a different discipline from
electronic design and potential readers didn't recognize that Electrical
Design News was mainly about electronic design and not electrical design.

Shortly after Electrical Design News launched, Rogers acquired another
electronic-design magazine, EEE--I think those letters stood for Electronic
Equipment Engineering--and integrated it with Electrical Design News. Now,
"Electrical Design News (with EEE)" was not only a mouthful and a half; it
was way too long to fit on the cover, and the fact that the name of the
acquired magazine was already an acronym provided a perfect way out of the
inappropriate-name dilemma. For a short while (my guess is less than a
year), the magazine published under the name EDN/EEE. Then the name was
shortened to just "EDN." Most people (including some who work at
EDN--until one of the old-timers clues them in) think that EDN stands for
"Electronic Design News." That's not true now and it never was true. EDN is
not an acronym. The letters haven't stood for anything for almost half a
century. There is, of course, real irony in that fact because of the
magzine's insistence that virtually every acronym that appears on its pages
be defined.

Years ago, the president of a small company whose name consisted of three
letters was on a press tour to introduce a new product. I asked him what
his company's initials stood for. "Young man," he said (the "young" part was
not true even then), "you, of all people, have a hell of a nerve asking THAT
question. My company's name stands for the same thing that EDN stands for!"
He was smiling, of course, but he definitely made his point.

About 20 years ago, EDN held a contest and invited advertising and public
relations people to enter. Each entry had to suggest a meaning for the
letters EDN. I believe the winning entry was Every Damned Night--a reference
to the difficulty of putting out a new issue every two weeks if the staff
worked only normal business hours.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@xxxxxxx
eFax 707-215-6367







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