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Subject:Oh, I get the pixel (picture+element)! From:Scott Goodhue <goodhue -at- SMTPGATE -dot- DISCLOSURE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 21 Jul 1995 13:47:36 EST
As the incidence of newfangled words like "bit" increases, in many
cases, referring to them as "acronyms" is inappropriate. BInary DigiT
can pass the litmus test in that it is a word formed by the
combination of "initial or parts of a series of words." It also
passes as a contraction being "a shortened word or words formed by
omitting or combining some of the letters or sounds."
But what's a pixel? A derivative (thanks Audrey C.) of the words
picture and element. The letter "X" disqualifies it as either an
acronym or a contraction.
Might I also suggest <chortle> that both of the words bit and pixel
are portmanteau words? Like a portmanteau -- "a large leather
suitcase that opens into two hinged compartments" -- a portmanteau
word is "a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings [not
specifically letters] of two different words."
