Do You Know What You're Talking About?

 

We use them nearly day and rarely give a thought as to where they came from. Sometimes we use acronyms that we don’t know what they actually stand for, just the basic idea. There’s been an increase in use over the past century, most likely due to the rapid advance in science and technology.

 

The spelled-out form of an acronym or initialism (that is, what it stands for) is called its expansion. Here are some examples of each type of acronym as provided by Wikipedia:

 

 

Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters

    AIDS: acquired immune deficiency syndrome

    NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

    Scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

    Laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of     Radiation

 

Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters

    Amphetamine: alpha-methyl-phenethylamine

    Gestapo: Geheime Staatspolizei (secret state police)

    Interpol: International Criminal Police Organization

    Nabisco: National Biscuit Company

 

Pronounced as a word, containing a mixture of initial and non-initial letters

    Necco: New England Confectionery Company

    Radar: radio detection and ranging

 

Pronounced as a word or names of letters, depending on speaker or context

    FAQ: frequently asked questions

    IRA: Individual Retirement 

    SAT: Scholastic Achievement (or Aptitude) Test

    SQL: Structured Query Language.

 

Pronounced as a combination of names of letters and a word

    CD-ROM: Compact Disc read-only memory

    IUPAC: International Union of Pure and Applied     Chemistry

    JPEGL: Joint Photographic Experts Group

    SFMOMA: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

 

Pronounced only as the names of letters

    BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation

    OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer

    USA: United States of America

    IRA: When used for the Irish Republican Army

 

Pronounced as the names of letters but with a shortcut

    AAA: (triple A) American Automobile Association;     abdominal aortic aneurysm; anti-aircraft artillery

    (three As) Amateur Athletic Association

    IEEE: (I triple E) Institute of Electrical and Electronics     Engineers

    NAACP: (N double A C P) National Association for the     Advancement of Colored People

    NCAA: (N C double A or N C two A or N C A A)     National Collegiate Athletic Association

 

Shortcut incorporated into name

    3M: (three M) originally Minnesota Mining and     Manufacturing Company

    E3: (E three) Electronic Entertainment Exposition

    W3C: (W three C) World Wide Web Consortium

    C4ISTAR: (C four I star) Command, Control,     Communications, Computers, Intelligence,     Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance

 

Pseudo-acronyms, which consist of a sequence of characters that, when pronounced as intended, invoke other, longer words with less typing

    CQ: "Seek you", a code used by radio operators (also     is an editorial term meaning "Copy Qualified" in print     media)

    IOU: "I owe you" (true acronym would be IOY)

    K9: "Canine", used to designate police units utilizing     dogs

    Q8: "Kuwait"

 

Initialisms whose last abbreviated word is often redundantly included anyway

    ATM machine: Automated Teller Machine machine

    DSW Shoe Warehouse: Designer Shoe Warehouse     Shoe Warehouse

    HIV virus: Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus

    VIN number: Vehicle Identification Number number

 

Now, do you feel a little smarter?