6

What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym? asked about pluralising acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms, but is there a standard way to add verb endings e.g. -ing and -ed (what are these called?), at least in informal English?

For example, which of these is/are best?

  1. I'm SMSing her.
  2. I'm SMS-ing her.
  3. I'm SMS'ing her.

I know I can rephrase it to "I'm sending her an SMS." but I wish to use SMS as a verb.

Similarly,

  1. He FUBARed.
  2. He FUBAR-ed.
  3. He FUBAR'ed.
  4. He FUBAR-d.
  5. He FUBAR'd.

In the latter set, as the verb is actually the F ("foul", or something more explicit) — the expanded sentence being "He fouled up beyond all recognition." — should it even be "He FedUBAR." or similar?

5

If you're using a non-verb acronym or initialism as a verb, you're already in the realm of jargon. If you're writing in a context where that's acceptable, you should add a simple "ed" or "ing" for a suffix unless you're going for a humorous effect. When acronyms are absorbed into the language, they may acquire verb forms; for example, the verb meaning "to produce a laser beam" is "lase," retroactively treating the acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation" as if it meant "something that 'lases.'"

1

I think it depends on context, in my case I use an apostrophe as needed.

  • SMSed looks fine to me.

  • MACing, however, sounds like we're using a mace (weapon/spray) on someone. For such case I would go with MAC'ing¹ which makes the intent clearer.

¹ MAC is Message Authentication Code

P.S. I'm not from the realm of languages, but wanted to add some additional info on what I do in practice.

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