acronym

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Technically, a word that is formed by combining some parts (usually the first letters) of some
other terms. For example, modem is the acronym derived from modulator/demodulator. In
everyday speech, the term is also used to refer to initialisms, which are combinations of letters
representing a longer phrase. For example, CRT is an initialism for cathode ray tube. The
difference is that an acronym is pronounced as if it were a word rather than just a series of
individual letters.
Newsgroups, chat rooms, and e-mail have spawned a rich set of acronyms and initialisms for
common phrases. A few of the more common ones are listed below.
Acronym/Initialism Meaning
ASAP As Soon As Possible
BTW By The Way
FWIW For What It's Worth
FYI For Your Information
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
LOL Laughing Out Loud
ROTFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing
RTFM Read The #&!@ing Manual
TIA Thanks In Advance
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Definition:
A word formed from the initial letters of a name (for example, NATO, from North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) or by combining initial letters of a series of words (radar, from radio
detection and ranging). Adjective: acronymic.
An anacronym is an acronym (or other initialism) for which the expanded form isn't widely
known, such as OSHA or UNIX.

See also:
Abbreviation
Backronym
Guidelines for Using Capital Letters
Initialese
Initialism
Mnemonic
Name That -nym
RAS Syndrome
Textspeak
Etymology:
From the Greek, "point" + "name"
Examples and Observations:
Acronyms and Abbreviations
"The difference between acronyms and abbreviations is this: acronyms are proper words
created from the initial letter or two of the words in a phrase, and they are pronounced like
other words (cf. snafu, radar, laser, or UNESCO). By contrast, abbreviations do not form proper
words, and so they are pronounced as strings of letters, for example, S.O.B., IOU, U.S.A., MP, lp,
or tv."
(Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism. Oxford Univ. Press, 1991)

"I have a couple of lists that I can refer to throughout the day, but I don't have the official 'FAT'
book yet. Yes, it really is called the FAT (Federal Acronym and Terms) book."
(John Scales)

"There is only one known pre-20th-century word with an acronymic origin . . .: colinderies or
colinda, an acronym for the Colonial and Indian Exposition (1886)."
(David Wilton, Word Myths, 2004)

ABBA: The name of this 1970s Swedish pop group was derived from the first names of the
group's members: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid.

BOMFOG: from the initial letters in "Brotherhood Of Man, Fatherhood Of God." First used by
journalists to refer to a familiar theme in Nelson Rockefeller's speeches; now refers to pious
blather of any kind.

KISS: from "Keep It Simple, Stupid"--advice often given to speakers and writers.

Acronymic Textspeak
"Many acronyms meant to be written have wormed their way into spoken language--just ask
your BFF, or the co-worker who prefaces everything with 'FYI.' Lately, this is also the case for
Internet slang.

"First developed about 20 years ago to streamline conversation on chat platforms like Usenet
and IRC and popularized on AOL instant messenger and Gmail chat, terms like LOL (laugh out
loud), OMG (oh my God) and BTW (by the way) now seem to be popping up in real life (IRL)."
(Douglas Quenqua, "Alphabet Soup." The New York Times, September 23, 2011)

Acronyms in The Office
Mr. Brown: Now this is a simple acronym: H.E.R.O. At Diversity, we believe it's very easy to be a
hero. All you need are: Honesty, Empathy, Respect, and Open-mindedness.
Dwight Schrute: Excuse me, I'm sorry, but that's not all it takes to be a hero.
Mr. Brown: Okay well, what is a hero to you?
Dwight Schrute: A hero kills people, people that wish him harm. A hero is part human and part
supernatural. A hero is born out of a childhood trauma, or out of a disaster, and must be
avenged.
Mr. Brown: Uh, okay, you're thinking of a superhero.
(Larry Wilmore and Rainn Wilson in The Office, 2005)

NIMBY
NIMBY: from "Not In My Back Yard"--for a person who opposes anything scheduled to be built
near his or her residence.

FEMA
"Re-branding FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) doesn't fix the problem; it just
puts a new acronym on it."
(David Marin)

The Ancient Roots of Acronymy
"Acronymy has ancient roots, as illustrated by the early Christian use of the Greek word ichthys
meaning 'fish' as an acronym for Isous Christos, Theou Huios, Str ('Jesus Christ, God's son,
Savior'). In English, the first known acronyms (as opposed to plain old initialisms) cropped up in
the telegraphic code developed by Walter P. Phillips for the United Press Association in 1879.
The code abbreviated 'Supreme Court of the United States' as SCOTUS and 'President of the . . .'
as POT, giving way to POTUS by 1895. Those shorthand labels have lingered in journalistic and
diplomatic circles--now joined by FLOTUS, which of course stands for 'First Lady of the United
States.'"
(Ben Zimmer, "On Language: Acronym." The New York Times Magazine, Dec. 19, 201
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An acronym (pronounced AK-ruh-nihm, from Greek acro- in the sense of extreme or tip and onyma or name) is an
abbreviation of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word. The word may
already exist or it can be a new word. Webster's cites snafu and radar, two terms of World War Two vintage, as
examples of acronyms that were created.
According to the strictest definition of an acronym, only abbreviations that are pronounced as words qualify. So by
these standards, for example, COBOL is an acronym because it's pronounced as a word but WHO (World Health
Organization) is not an acronym because the letters in the abbreviation are pronounced individually. However,
opinions differ on what constitutes an acronym: Merriam-Webster, for example, says that an acronym is just "a word
formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name."
Frequently, acronyms are formed that use existing words (and sometimes the acronym is invented first and the
phrase name represented is designed to fit the acronym). Here are some examples of acronyms that use existing
words:
BASIC (Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
NOW (National Organization for Women)
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)
Abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase are sometimes referred to as initialisms. Initialisms
can be but are not always acronyms. AT&T, BT, CBS, CNN, IBM, and NBC are initialisms that are not acronyms.
Many acronym lists you'll see are really lists of acronyms and initialisms or just lists of abbreviations. (Note that
abbreviations include shortened words like "esp." for "especially" as well as shortened phrases.)
Summing up:
An abbreviation is a shortening of a word or a phrase.
An acronym is an abbreviation that forms a word.
An initialism is an abbreviation that uses the first letter of each word in the phrase (thus, some but not all
initialisms are acronyms).
Furthermore:
An acronym so familiar that no one remembers what it stands for is called an anacronym (For example, few
people know that COBOL stands for Common Business Oriented Language.)
An acronym in which one of the letters stands for the actual word abbreviated therein is called a recursive
acronym. (For example, VISA is said to stand for VISA International Service Association.)
An acronym in which the short form was original and words made up to stand for it afterwards is called a
backronym. (For example, SOS was originally chosen as a distress signal because it lent itself well to
Morse code. Long versions, including Save Our Ship and Save our Souls, came later.)
An acronym whose letters spell a word meaningful in the context of the term it stands for is called an
apronym. (For example, BASIC, which stands for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, is a
very simple programming language.)
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10 useful acronyms and abbreviations
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Average: 3 (31 votes)
Fri, 01/02/2009 - 00:19 Chris McCarthy
Vocabulary

What's the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation?
Many people feel they have the same meaning, but traditionally there is a difference:
An acronym is a word that is that is made by taking the first letter of the full name or sentence.
For example, there is a famous Swedish furniture company is called IKEA. It is the short form of
for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. The company name is called IKEA; it is read like any
other word. It is never spelled out letter by letter: I - K- E- A.

An abbreviation is used by taking the first letter of a longer sentence. Each letter is spelled out
and not read as a word. Two examples are BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and CNN
(Cable News Network).
Here are ten examples of common acronyms and abbreviations:
R.S.V.P.
"Rpondez s'il vous plat", a French phrase that translates to "please respond" or literally
"respond, if you please". It is used on invitation cards. When you receive an RSVP you must
reply to the invitation saying whether you accept or decline the invitation.
ESL / EFL
Both of these abbreviations have the same meaning and are very common to see for learners of
English.
ESL means English as a second language. - It is mostly used in American English.
EFL means English as a foreign language. - It is mostly used in British English.
Neither of them needs use a full-stop in between the letters -it is EFL, not E.F.L
Note: On the same subject we use ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and TESOL
(teaching English to speakers of other languages).
P.M. / A.M.
Both of these are used when telling the time:
A.M. - Also written as p.m. and pm, it stands for "post meridiem" (Latin for "after noon" in the
12-hour clock).
P.M. - Also written as a.m. and am, it stands for "ante meridiem" ("before noon").
AD / BC
BC (or B.C) stands for "before Christ".
AD (or A.D) stands for "Anno Domini" (Latin for "In the year of Our Lord").
ASAP
ASAP (or A.S.A.P.) stands for "as soon as possible". We you use this abbreviation when we
want someone to do something quickly: "Send me the report ASAP."
DIY
DIY (or D.I.Y) stands for "do it yourself". The term used by various communities that focus on
people (called 'do-it-yourselfers' or 'DIYers') creating or repairing things for themselves without
the help of paid professionals.
B.Y.O.B.
B.Y.O.B. or (BYOB) often seen on invites to parties. It stands for "bring your own bottle /
booze"; you are invited to a party, but you should bring your own drinks.
ETA
ETA (not E.T.A) stands for "estimated time of arrival". It is the time when a form of transport
(like a train or plane) is expected to arrive in a place. The opposite is ETD ("estimated time of
departure").
P.S.
P.S (or PS) stand for "post script" and is used at the end of written letters to add extra
information.
I.e. / E.g.
These two abbreviations are easily confused and both used when writing:
I.e. (or i.e. / I.E.) stands for "id est" (Latin for "That is (to say)" or "in other words").
E.g. (or e.g. / E.G.) stands for "exempli gratia" (Latin for "for example").
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Acronyms
Meaning
Words which are formed from the initial letters of other words.
This definition requires clarification. By 'initial letters', the definition doesn't limit itself just to
the single first letter of a word, but to the letters that begin the word. So, 'quango', which is
formed from ' quasi non-governmental organization', is an acronym. Conversely, words like
'laser', which is formed from 'light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation', isn't
strictly an acronym as the 'b', 't' and 'o' of 'by', 'the' and 'of' are ignored. In general usage,
although not in the piece below, these restrictions are frequently ignored.
Origin
When looking for the origin of an unexplained word, people sometimes suggest that the word
was coined as an acronym of some phrase or other. Occasionally that notion is correct and there
are some commonly used words that we might use without necessarily being aware they are
acronyms, for example 'gulag' or 'Hamas'. Words that were coined as acronyms form quite a
small part of the language. Nevertheless, supposed acronym derivations are the largest source of
folk etymologies - those popular fallacies about the origins of words or phrases. With many of
these false derivations the word comes first and then some suitably chirpy phrase is invented to
match it. These back-formations have been given the intuitive name 'backronyms'. There are
many examples and two of the more common, 'posh' and 'golf' (supposedly 'port out, starboard
home' and 'gentlemen only, ladies forbidden' respectively), make it onto the Nonsense Nine, my
list of popular fallacies. Other backronym examples are:
cop - Constable on patrol
news - North, east, west, south
Those two are at least plausible. Two better known but frankly ludicrous examples are:
fuck - For unlawful carnal knowledge
shit - Ship high in transit
Some backronym coinages make little attempt to feign authenticity and are clearly intended to
poke fun; for example, Ford - Fix or repair daily and DOS - Defunct operating system.
Deciding whether an acronym's supposed origin is genuine isn't always so easy. The best place to
start is the age of the word. If the word is old, then it probably isn't an acronym. The term
'acronym' itself wasn't coined until the mid 20th century. The earliest known citation of it is from
American Notes and Queries, February 1943:
Words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words... I have seen... called by the
name acronym.
Some examples do date from before 1943 but were rare enough beasts in the early 20th century
not to have needed a generic name.
The field of computing is now the most prolific source of acronyms - 'gif', 'ascii', 'wysiwyg',
'mpeg', not to mention the names of most programming languages; the list seems endless. Before
computers, the military held top spot. Almost all of the earliest known acronyms derive from the
armed forces; for example (with the date of their earliest use as an acronym that I know of):
Gestapo - Geheime Staats-Polizei (1934)
Waaf - Women's Auxiliary Air Force (1940)
Radar - Radio detection and ranging (1941)
Prior to these, there were a few military words, which, while being strictly initialisms, come
about as close as we can get to being proper acronyms, and many people would accept them as
such.
Anzac - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (1915)
Naafi - Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes (1927)
So, if someone suggests to you that the name of the 15th century game of golf was coined as an
acronym, you might suggest suitable therapy, or possibly a free membership of the Committee
Resisting Acronymic Proliferation.
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