Abbreviation, Acronym, or Initialism: Fixing (not Mixing) Identity
|
|
American English often applies ways to shorten words and phrases for convenience and economy. This is particularly true in business, government, the military, and perhaps even more so now in texting and social media.
For those with an interest in grammar, the question can become whether we are using an abbreviation, an acronym, or an initialism (which is often confused with an acronym).
We last discussed this subject in 2008. More recently, we received reader questions and feedback about the proper use of acronyms in our article on style in the U.S. military. We thought it would be a good time to return to a relevant subject that can still sometimes be unclear.
We'll start with a quick look at definitions as they apply to words and phrases:
| • |
abbreviation: a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, as Dr. for Doctor, U.S. for United States, lb. for pound. An abbreviation can also be a shorter word achieved by omitting letters, such as cray for crazy (sometimes heard in Millennial-speak). Acronyms and initialisms are forms of abbreviation. |
| • |
acronym: a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words and pronounced as a separate word, such as RAM for random access memory and OPEC for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. |
| • |
initialism: a set of initials representing a name or an organization with each letter pronounced separately, as FBI for Federal Bureau of Investigation. |
In some cases, we might also see hybrids of acronyms and initialisms:
|
• |
CD[initialism]-ROM[acronym] for compact disc read-only memory |
|
• |
J[initialism]PEG[acronym] for Joint Photographic Experts Group |
These days, acronym and initialism are often referred to interchangeably, including by popular references such as dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster online (as well as military style guides, which we examined in A Study of Style: The U.S. Military). This contributes to the blurring of the distinction between them.
Because we aim for precision and eloquence in daily formal writing, we will reinforce how they differ by reviewing each category in its own table with some current examples.
| Abbreviations (shortened or contracted to represent the whole) |
| approx. (approximately) |
est. (established) |
St. (Street) |
| dept. (department) |
Mr. (Mister) |
U.K. (United Kingdom) |
| e.g. (exempli gratia = for example) |
no. (number) |
vs. (versus) |
| Acronyms (made from first letters or groups of words, pronounced as a separate word) |
| ASAP (as soon as possible) |
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) |
| AWOL (absent without leave) |
RADAR (radio detecting and ranging) |
| DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) |
YOLO (you only live once) |
| Initialisms (set of initials, each pronounced separately) |
| BTW (by the way) |
IMO (in my opinion) |
| CSI (crime scene investigation) |
MIA (missing in action) |
| ETA (estimated time of arrival) |
VIP (very important person) |
Note that acronyms and initialisms may be punctuated if the style preference is to do so (e.g., A.S.A.P., C.S.I.). The Associated Press Stylebook, one of our main style guides, advises to "avoid alphabet soup" when writing: Do not use abbreviations [also comprising acronyms] that the reader would not quickly recognize … Names not commonly before the public should not be reduced solely to save a few words.
It also instructs to "not follow an organization's full name with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses or set off by dashes. If an abbreviation or acronym would not be clear on second reference without this arrangement, do not use it."
In other words, abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms can help keep our content shorter and more concise, but as always, we need to know our audience. Overuse of these devices can distract, confuse, and make our content less formal than we'd like it to be. Understanding the differences among them will give us greater command of their functions in both writing and speech.
|
View and comment on this
article on our website.
|
|
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscribers-Only Quizzes. Click here to take an A vs. An Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
We will be adding many more quizzes this year to our already substantial list of quizzes. If you have suggestions for topics we have not yet covered, please send us a message at help@grammarbook.com.
|
Hundreds of Additional Quizzes
at Your Fingertips
Subscribe now to receive hundreds of additional English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
Teachers and Employers
Save hours of valuable time! You may assign quizzes to your students and employees and have their scores tallied, organized, and reported to you! Let GrammarBook.com take the hassle out of teaching English!
"Fun to test my skills."
"The explanations really help ... thanks!"
"I can select the quizzes to assign to my students, and then the results are reported to me automatically!"
|
|
Don't need all the quizzes?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each.
Purchase yours here. |
If you think you have found an error in a quiz, please email us at help@grammarbook.com
|
 |
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern |
The Authority on English Grammar! Eleventh Edition Now Available
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
The publisher of The Blue Book, Jossey-Bass, A Wiley brand, is offering a 35 percent discount for those of you who order the book through Wiley.com. Shipping and tax are not included. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4A.
Offer expires December 31, 2020.
|
Wordplay
Acronyms for Acronym
For a twist, here are some acronyms for the word "ACRONYM" itself:
Alphabetical Code for Remembering Odd Names You Make up
A Coded Rendition Of Names Yielding Meaning
A Contrived Reduction Of Nouns, Yielding Mnemonics
Another Cryptic Rendition Of Nomenclature You Memorize
A Clever Re-Organization Nudges Your Memory
|
 |
English In A Snap:
68 One-Minute English Usage Videos FREE |
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch.
|
|
