Q. The acronym NVM stands for “non-volatile memory.” The acronym NVMe stands for NVM Express. Unfortunately, the first mention of NVMe shows up before the first mention of NVM. This means I am first writing “NVM Express (NVMe).” I then later write “non-volatile memory (NVM).” If I were to define the first mention of NVMe as “Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe),” would that mean I would not define the first mention of NVM as “non-volatile memory (NVM)” because NVM has already been defined as part of another acronym?
A. Why not explain that there are two overlapping acronyms in this article and set everyone straight from the get-go? Contrary to popular belief, there is no rule that acronyms must be defined once and only once when they first appear, no matter how unhelpful that is. And even if there were such a rule, when you have a situation like this, you simply have to take charge and be extra clear.