Now it’s just NPR

Los Angeles Times: What’s in a name? Not much, according to National Public Radio, which now wants to be known only as NPR. The rationale for the rechristening is that the network now transmits its programming not only on radio but through various digital devices. Fair enough.

Still, we lament the general trend of replacing names, some of them still perfectly descriptive, with initials and acronyms. We’re a long way from 1959, when “The Elements of Style,” still a usage bible for many journalists, lectured writers as follows: “Do not use initials for the names of organizations or movements unless you are certain the initials will be readily understood.”

Acronyms at least form words, such as “laser,” an abbreviation for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.”tem once known as Downtown-Area Short-Hop.

Most abbreviations, however, are just a jumble of letters. And some actually conceal information about what’s being described.

We’re not suggesting that the FBI (which some readers may not know stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation) arrest abbreviators for crimes against the language.

Maybe it’s time for a documentary on the subject by the network formerly known as National Public Radio.

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