Learn English – Is “wtf” an abbreviation or a euphemism

I'm curious about the reason for calling these acronyms "elitist," but a general answer to your question is

1. yes, these acronyms are being assimilated into more general use, but
2. no, these acronyms are not becoming words with significantly different meaning.

Regarding the reference to SNAFU, FUBAR and OK, the argument to be made is whether the original meaning, not the origins, is lost. "OK" is deceiving in that, while almost no one could state what the earliest-recorded expansion of the acronym is, we still use it in the same general meaning. The expansions of the other two can be sussed out with a bit of work, as they come from actual words rather than colloquial satire. These, too, are still used with the same general meaning, though we choose to ignore the masked vulgarity. Further, the expansion of shorter acronyms, such as FYI and BTW, will quite possibly remain in the common understanding until the words actually fall out of use.

Snafu and Fubar have assimilated further than will "FYI", "BTW" and their ilk. "FOO-bar" and "SNA-foo" can be pronounced as words. Will people actually start saying "FWEE" or "BE-twa," outside the ironic "B-T-DUB" that Tonza offers? I'm uncertain, but I have a feeling the answer is "no."

"OK," IIRC, may be in the extreme minority as it has actually been turned into the word "Okay." "LOL" is sometimes made "LOLing" or "loling" as it can actually be pronounced coherently as a word-construction, but I don't see the same fate for these other acronyms.

Regarding stacker's opinion, I don't believe this to be a difference between acronyms and abbreviations. Acronyms are built using the initial letter of all or most of the non-articles in a phrase. An abbr. is a shortened version of a word, where a number of characters are lopped off from the end (and sometimes inside) the word.

And, FYI, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface, pronounced "scuzzy") is an acronym.

It's probably worth prefixing all this with the caveat that, as discovered from the discussion on your previous question, this does vary quite a bit between from place to place (and possibly between classes, professions, sexes etc...), so do beware that what answers you get may well not apply to the whole of the UK :)

I'm not sure which films you've been watching, but the reaction you've observed may have more to do with the tone the words are used with: if you walk into a pub and call someone you don't know a cunt, you can be fairly certain of a fight. If you instead call them a wanker, your chances of getting away without a fight are better, but only slightly so. With either word, anyone being referred to with it is likely to get very angry.

That said, just saying the word wanker is much less shocking than saying cunt: in the place I work (which is admittedly rather tolerant of so-called "bad language"), people might often use the word to express their frustration with someone (though never anyone working there) — say, a persistent and rude telemarketer who won't leave them alone, or a particularly unhelpful customer service rep from the phone company. Or perhaps someone who cut them up on their drive to work. Use of the "c-word" is much more rare (that would be reserved for someone who had, say, driven into their car and written it off...). And it is telling that there is no corresponding expression "the w-word". (Well actually there are many possibilities — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 — but none of them refer to "wanker"!)

Of course the dynamics of insults are very different between close friends, where much stronger language can be used, and indeed being incredibly rude can often be a mark of affection. Tone is everything, and I would never advise doing this unless you are totally sure what you are doing!