Are 'acronym poem' and 'acrostic poem' the same?

Question

Are 'acronym poem' and 'acrostic poem' the same? Can these terms be used interchangeably?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Dear Rommel

I have seen the phrase "acronym poem", but I want to say it's just wrong. Soon the phrase will probably be OK but, until then..

An acronym is when you start with a description and then, using the initial letters, you make a short word that becomes popular in the language. A well-known example is..

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus - why don't we just call that Scuba

I would also say: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - let's just call that NATO (pronounced Nay-toe)

If this is so, an acronym cannot be a poem - it's just a word formed from the initials of other words

In a completely different way..

In poetry, you can start with a word and then expand it so that each line of your poem starts with a letter from the word. This is called acrostic poetry It is related to the idea of acronym, but it is not the same thing..

Not always catching the bad guys

Although, we may need you otherwise

Teaming up with the other guys

OK, but not too many lies

That's a rather bad acrostic, but you can see that it's not the same as the acronym

Best regards, Dave

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks, Dave. This is the clearest explanation I have found. Carole

Monox D. I-Fly · Answer

What if a poem consists of acronyms in each line, and when all those acronyms are united it make a sentence, can we call it an acronym poem?

Are 'acronym poem' and 'acrostic poem' the same?

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