caN it be acrOnymised?

Brachylog, 1 byte

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Java 8, 46 39 38 35 bytes

a->b->a.matches(b.replace("",".*"))

-7 bytes thanks to @tsh.
-1 byte thanks to @NahuelFouilleul.

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Explanation:

a->b->         // Method with two String parameters and boolean return-type
  a.matches(   //  Check if the first input matches the regex:
   b           //   The second input,
    .replace("",".*"))
               //   where every character is surrounded with ".*"

For example:

a="HELLO WORLD"
b="LORD"

Will do the check:

"HELLO WORLD".matches("^.*L.*O.*R.*D.*$")

(The ^...$ will add the String#matches builtin implicitly, since it will always try to match the entire String.)


C (gcc), 47 bytes

f(a,b)char*a,*b;{a=!*b||*a&&f(a+1,b+(*a==*b));}

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