Acronym vs. Initialism

Learned an interesting tidbit today that I felt like passing on.

Do you know the difference between an acronym and an initialism? Well, neither did I until recently. I always thought that abbreviations like NASA, NATO, ABC, SUV, etc. were all the same but technically they aren't.

Abbreviations such as NASA or NATO are acronyms. Acronyms are pronounced as if the were a word.

An initialism such as ABC or SUV are abbreviations formed like an acronym but are pronounced letter by letter.

Interesting, non?