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| - | {{Selfref|For acronyms used on Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:Acronyms]].}} | + | {{Donate}} |
| - | '''Acronyms''' and '''initialisms''' are [[abbreviation]]s formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters (as in ''[[CEO]]'') or parts of words (as in ''[[Benelux]]'' and ''[[American Sign Language|Ameslan]]''). There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms (see ''[[#Nomenclature|nomenclature]]'') nor on written usage (see ''[[#Orthographic styling|orthographic styling]]''). While popular in recent English, such abbreviations have [[#Early examples in English|historical use]] in English and [[#Non-English language|other languages]]. As a type of [[word formation]] process, acronyms and initialisms are viewed as a subtype of [[blend]]ing.
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| - | ==Nomenclature==
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| - | The term ''acronym'' is the name for a word from the first letters of each word in a series of words (such as ''[[sonar]]'', created from '''so'''und '''n'''avigation '''a'''nd '''r'''anging).<sup>[]</sup> Attestations for "Akronym" in German are known from 1921, and for "acronym" in English from 1940.<sup>[]</sup> While the word ''[[abbreviation]]'' refers to any shortened form of a word or a phrase, some have used ''initialism'' or ''alphabetism'' to refer to an abbreviation formed simply from, and used simply as, a string of initials.
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| - | Although the term ''acronym'' is widely used to describe any abbreviation formed from initial letters,<sup>[]</sup> most dictionaries define ''acronym'' to mean "a word" in its original sense,<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> while some include additional senses attributing to ''acronym'' the same meaning as that of ''initialism''.<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> According to the first definition found in most dictionaries, examples of acronyms are ''[[NATO]]'' (ˈ|n|eɪ|t|oʊ), ''[[Scuba diving|scuba]]'' (ˈ|s|k|uː|b|ə), and ''[[radar]]'' (ˈ|r|eɪ|d|ɑr), while examples of initialisms are ''[[FBI]]'' (ˌ|ɛ|f|ˌ|b|iː|ˈ|aɪ) and ''[[HTML]]'' (ˌ|eɪ|tʃ|ˌ|t|iː|ˌ|ɛ|m|ˈ|ɛ|l).<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup>
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| - | There is no agreement on what to call abbreviations whose pronunciation involves the combination of letter names and words, such as ''[[JPEG]]'' (ˈ|dʒ|eɪ|p|ɛ|ɡ) and ''[[MS-DOS]]'' (ˌ|ɛ|m|ɛ|s|ˈ|d|ɒ|s).
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| - | There is also some disagreement as to what to call abbreviations that some speakers pronounce as letters and others pronounce as a word. For example, the terms ''[[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]]'' and ''[[Individual Retirement Account|IRA]]'' can be pronounced as individual letters: ˌ|juː|ˌ|ɑr|ˈ|ɛ|l and ˌ|aɪ|ˌ|ɑr|ˈ|eɪ, respectively; or as a single word: ˈ|ɜr|l and ˈ|aɪr|ə, respectively. Such constructions, however—regardless of how they are pronounced—if formed from initials, may be identified as ''initialisms'' without controversy.
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| - | The spelled-out form of an acronym or initialism (that is, what it stands for) is called its ''expansion''.
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| - | ==Comparing a few examples of each type==
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| - | <!--
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| - | ONLY FOUR (AT MOST) EXAMPLES OF EACH TYPE ARE NECESSARY. There are complete lists of acronyms and initialisms elsewhere.
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| - | *Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters
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| - | **[[AIDS]]: acquired immune deficiency syndrome
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| - | **[[NATO]]: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
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| - | **[[Scuba set|Scuba]]: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
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| - | **[[Laser]]: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
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| - | *Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters
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| - | **[[Amphetamine]]: alpha-methyl-phenethylamine
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| - | **[[Gestapo]]: Geheime Staatspolizei (secret state police)
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| - | **[[Interpol]]: International Criminal Police Organization
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| - | **[[Nabisco]]: National Biscuit Company
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| - | *Pronounced as a word, containing a mixture of initial and non-initial letters
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| - | **[[Necco]]: New England Confectionery Company
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| - | **[[Radar]]: radio detection and ranging
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| - | *Pronounced as a word or names of letters, depending on speaker or context
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| - | **[[FAQ]]: ([fæk] or ''ef-a-cue'') frequently asked questions
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| - | **[[Individual Retirement Account|IRA]]: When used for [[Individual Retirement Account]], can be pronounced as letters (''i-ar-a'') or as a word {{IPA|[ˈaɪrə]}}.
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| - | **[[SAT]]: ([sæt] or ''ess-a-tee'') (previously) Scholastic Achievement (or Aptitude) Test(s)(US) or Standard Assesment Test(s) (UK), now claimed not to stand for anything.<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | **[[SQL]]: ([siːkwəl] or ''ess-cue-el'') Structured Query Language.
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| - | *Pronounced as a combination of names of letters and a word
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| - | **[[CD-ROM]]: (''cee-dee-''[rɒm]) Compact Disc read-only memory
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| - | **[[IUPAC]]: (''i-u-''[pæk]) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
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| - | **[[JPEG]]: (''jay-''[pɛɡ]) Joint Photographic Experts Group
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| - | **[[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art|SFMOMA]]: (''ess-ef-''[moʊmə]) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
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| - | *Pronounced only as the names of letters
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| - | **[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]]: British Broadcasting Corporation
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| - | **[[OEM]]: Original Equipment Manufacturer
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| - | **[[USA]]: United States of America
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| - | **[[List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army|IRA]]: When used for the [[Irish Republican Army]] or [[List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army|organisations claiming descent from this group]]
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| - | *Pronounced as the names of letters but with a shortcut
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| - | **AAA:
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| - | ***(''triple A'') [[American Automobile Association]]; [[abdominal aortic aneurysm]]; [[anti-aircraft artillery]]; [[Asistencia Asesoría y Administración]]
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| - | ***(''three As'') [[Amateur Athletic Association]]
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| - | **[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]]: (''I triple E'') Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
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| - | **[[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]]: (''N double A C P'') National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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| - | **[[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]]: (''N C double A'' or ''N C two A'' or ''N C A A'') National Collegiate Athletic Association
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| - | *Shortcut incorporated into name
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| - | **[[3M]]: (''three M'') originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
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| - | **[[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]]: (''E three'') Electronic Entertainment Exposition
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| - | **[[W3C]]: (''W three C'') World Wide Web Consortium
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| - | **[[C4ISTAR]]: (''C four I star'') Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | *Multi-layered acronyms
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| - | **[[NAC Breda]]: (Dutch football club) NOAD ADVENDO Combinatie ("NOAD ADVENDO Combination"), formed by the 1912 merger of two clubs, NOAD (Nooit Opgeven Altijd Doorgaan "Never give up, always persevere") and ADVENDO (Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning "Pleasant for its entertainment and useful for its relaxation") from Breda<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup>
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| - | **[[GAIM]]: [[GTK+]] [[AOL]] Instant Messenger
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| - | **[[GIMP]]: '''G'''NU '''I'''mage '''M'''anipulation '''P'''rogram
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| - | ** [[VHDL]]: ''[[VHSIC]] hardware description language'', where VHSIC stands for ''very-high-speed integrated circuit''.
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| - | *[[Recursive acronyms]], in which the abbreviation refers to itself
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| - | **[[GNU]]: ''GNU's not Unix''<!-- Don't remove the apostrophe. It's a contraction for "GNU is", rather than the pluralization of "GNU".
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| - | -->!
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| - | ** [[Wine (software)|WINE]]: ''WINE Is Not an Emulator''
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| - | **[[PHP]]: ''PHP hypertext pre-processor'' (formerly ''personal home page'')
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| - | **These may go through multiple layers before the self-reference is found:
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| - | ***[[GNU Hurd|HURD]]: ''HIRD of Unix-replacing daemons'', where "HIRD" stands for "HURD of interfaces representing depth"
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| - | *[[Pseudo-acronym]]s, which consist of a sequence of characters that, when pronounced as intended, invoke other, longer words with less typing (see also [[Internet slang]])
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| - | **[[CQ (call)|CQ]]: ''cee-cue'' for "seek you", a code used by radio operators (also is an editorial term meaning "Copy Qualified" in print media)
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| - | **[[IOU (debt)|IOU]]: ''i-o-u'' for "I owe you" (a true acronym would be IOY)
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| - | **[[K9 (disambiguation)|K9]]: ''kay-nine'' for "canine", used to designate police units utilizing dogs
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| - | **[[Q8]]: ''cue-eight'' for "Kuwait"
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| - | *Initialisms whose last abbreviated word is often [[RAS Syndrome|redundantly included]] anyway
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| - | **[[Automated teller machine|ATM]] machine: ''Automated Teller Machine'' machine
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| - | **[[DSW, Inc.|DSW]] Shoe Warehouse: ''Designer Shoe Warehouse'' Shoe Warehouse
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| - | **[[Human immunodeficiency virus|HIV]] virus: ''Human Immunodeficiency Virus'' virus
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| - | **[[Vehicle identification number|VIN]] number: ''Vehicle Identification Number'' number
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| - | **[[Personal identification number|PIN]] number: ''Personal Identification Number'' number
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| - | **[[Liquid Crystal Display|LCD]] display: ''Liquid Crystal Display'' display
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| - | ==Historical and current use==
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| - | Acronymy, like [[retronym]]y, is a linguistic process that has existed throughout history but for which there was little to no [[Metalanguage|naming]], conscious attention, or [[Linguistics|systematic analysis]] until relatively recent times. Like retronymy, it became much more common in the 20th century than it had formerly been.
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| - | Ancient examples of acronymy (regardless of whether there was [[metalanguage]] at the time to describe it) include the following:
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| - | * Initialisms were used in Rome before the Christian era. For example, the official name for the Roman Empire, and the Republic before it, was abbreviated as ''[[SPQR]]'' (''Senatus Populusque Romanus'').
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| - | * The early Christians in Rome used the image of a fish as a symbol for [[Jesus]] in part because of an acronym—''fish'' in Greek is ''ΙΧΘΥΣ'' (''[[ichthys]]''), which was said to stand for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ (''Iesous CHristos THeou (h) Uios Soter'': Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior). Evidence of this interpretation dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is preserved in the [[catacombs]] of Rome. And for centuries, the Church has used the inscription ''[[INRI]]'' over the crucifix, which stands for the Latin ''Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' ("Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews").
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| - | * The Hebrew language has a long history of formation of acronyms pronounced as words, stretching back many centuries. The Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament") is known as "Tanakh", an acronym composed from the Hebrew initial letters of its three major sections: Torah (five books of Moses), Nevi'im (prophets), and K'tuvim (writings). Many rabbinical figures from the Middle Ages onward are referred to in rabbinical literature by their pronounced acronyms, such as Rambam (aka Maimonides, from the initial letters of his full Hebrew name (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) and Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzkhaki).
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| - | During the mid to late 19th century, an initialism-disseminating trend spread through the American and European business communities: abbreviating [[corporation]] names in places where space was limited for writing — such as on the sides of [[railroad car]]s (e.g., Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad → RF&P); on the sides of barrels and crates; and on [[ticker tape]] and in the small-print newspaper stock listings that got their data from it (e.g., American Telephone and Telegraph Company → AT&T). Some well-known commercial examples dating from the 1890s through 1920s include [[Nabisco]] (National Biscuit Company),<sup>[]</sup> [[Esso]] (from S.O., from [[Standard Oil]]), and [[Sunoco]] (Sun Oil Company).
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| - | The widespread, frequent use of acronyms and initialisms across the whole range of [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] is a relatively new linguistic phenomenon in most languages, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-20th century. As literacy rates rose, and as advances in science and technology brought with them a constant stream of new (and sometimes more complex) terms and concepts, the practice of abbreviating terms became increasingly convenient. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (''OED'') records the first printed use of the word ''initialism'' as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after ''acronym'' had become common.
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| - | By 1943, the term ''acronym'' had been used in English to recognize abbreviations (and contractions of phrases) that were pronounced as words.<sup>[]</sup> (It was formed from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ἄκρος, akros, "topmost, extreme" and ὄνομα, onoma, "name.") For example, the army offense of being ''absent without official leave'' was abbreviated to "[[Desertion|A.W.O.L.]]" in reports, but when pronounced as a word ('awol'), it became an acronym.<sup>[]</sup> While initial letters are commonly used to form an acronym, the original definition was '' a word made from the initial letters or syllables of other words'',<sup>[]</sup> for example [[UNIVAC I|UNIVAC]] from UNIVersal Automatic Computer.<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | In English, acronyms ''pronounced as words'' may be a 20th-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in ''Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends'' claims that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is ''colinderies'' or ''colinda'', an acronym for the Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year."<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup>
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| - | ===Early examples in English===
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| - | * The use of Latin and Neo-Latin terms in [[vernacular]]s has been pan-European and predates modern English. Some examples of initialisms in this class are:
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| - | **''[[12-hour clock|A.M.]]'' (from Latin ''ante meridiem'', "before noon") and ''[[12-hour clock|P.M.]]'' (from Latin ''post meridiem'', "after noon")
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| - | **''A.D.'' (from Latin ''[[Anno Domini]]'', "in the year of our Lord") (whose complement in English, ''B.C.'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Before Christ]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, is English-sourced)
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| - | *''[[Okay|O.K.]]'', a term of disputed origin, dating back at least to the early 19th century, now used around the world
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| - | *The [[etymology]] of the word ''alphabet'' itself comes to [[Middle English]] from the [[Late Latin]] ''Alphabetum'', which in turn derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''Alphabetos'', from ''[[alpha (letter)|alpha]]'' and ''[[beta (letter)|beta]]'', the first two letters of the [[Greek alphabet]].<sup>[]</sup> In colloquial terms, learning the alphabet is called learning one's ''ABCs''.
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| - | ===Current use===
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| - | Acronyms and initialisms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The [[Military|armed forces]] and government agencies frequently employ initialisms (and occasionally, acronyms); some well-known examples from the United States are among the "[[alphabet agencies]]" created by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] under the [[New Deal]]. Business and industry also are prolific coiners of acronyms and initialisms. The rapid advance of science and technology in recent centuries seems to be an underlying force driving the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more manageable names. One representative example, from the U.S. Navy, is COMCRUDESPAC, which stands for ''commander, cruisers destroyers Pacific''; it's also seen as "ComCruDesPac". "YABA-compatible" (where YABA stands for "yet another bloody acronym") is used to mean that a term's acronym can be pronounced but is not an offensive word (e.g., "When choosing a new name, be sure it is "YABA-compatible").<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | The use of initialisms has been further popularized with the emergence of Short Message Systems (SMS). To fit messages into the 160-Character limit of SMS, initialisms such as "GF" (girl friend), "LOL" (laughing out loud), and "DL" (download or down low) have been popularized into the mainstream.<sup>[]</sup> Although [[Linguistic prescription|prescriptivist]] disdain for such neologism is fashionable, and can be useful when the goal is protecting message receivers from [[wikt:cryptic#Adjective|crypticness]], it is scientifically groundless when couched as preserving the "purity" or "legitimacy" of language; this neologism is merely the latest instance of a perennial linguistic principle—the same one that in the 19th century prompted the aforementioned abbreviation of corporation names in places where space for writing was limited (e.g., ticker tape, newspaper [[column inch]]es).
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| - | ====Aids to learning the expansion without leaving a document====
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| - | The expansion is typically given at the first occurrence of the acronym within a given text, for the benefit of those readers who do not know what it stands for. The capitalization of the original term is independent of it being acronymized, being lowercase for a term such as frequently asked questions (FAQ) but uppercase for a proper name such as the United Nations (UN).
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| - | In addition to expansion at first use, some publications also have a key listing all acronyms or initialisms used therein and what their expansions are. This is a convenience to readers for two reasons. The first is that if they are not reading the entire publication sequentially (which is a common mode of reading), then they may encounter an acronym without having seen its expansion. Having a key at the start or end of the publication obviates skimming over the text searching for an earlier use to find the expansion. (This is especially important in the print medium, where no search utility is available.) The second reason for the key feature is its pedagogical value in educational works such as textbooks. It gives students a way to review the meanings of the acronyms introduced in a chapter after they have done the line-by-line reading, and also a way to quiz themselves on the meanings (by covering up the expansion column and recalling the expansions from memory, then checking their answers by uncovering.)
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| - | Expansion at first use and the abbreviation-key feature are aids to the reader that originated in the print era, and they are equally useful in print and online. In addition, the online medium offers yet more aids, such as [[tooltip]]s, [[hyperlink]]s, and rapid search via [[search engine technology]].
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| - | ====Jargon====
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| - | Acronyms and initialisms often occur in [[jargon]]. An initialism may have different meanings in different areas of industry, writing, and scholarship. The general reason for this is convenience and succinctness for specialists, although it has led some to obfuscate the meaning either intentionally, to deter those without such domain-specific knowledge, or unintentionally, by creating an initialism that already existed.
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| - | The medical literature has been struggling to control the proliferation of acronyms as their use has evolved from aiding communication to hindering it. This has become such a problem that it is even evaluated at the level of medical academies such as the American Academy of Dermatology.
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| - | <sup>[]</sup>
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| - | ====As mnemonics====
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| - | Acronyms and initialisms are often taught as [[mnemonic]] devices, for example in physics the colors of the visible spectrum are [[ROY G. BIV]] (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet). They are also used as mental checklists, for example in aviation: [[GUMPS]], which is Gas-Undercarriage-Mixture-Propeller-Seatbelts. Other examples of mnemonic acronyms and initialisms include [[CAN SLIM]], and [[PAVPANIC]].
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| - | ====Acronyms as legendary etymology====
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| - | See Also ''[[Backronym]]''
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| - | It is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of [[false etymology]], called a ''folk etymology'', for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in [[historical linguistics]], and are examples of language-related [[urban legend]]s. For example, ''[[police officer|cop]]'' is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol,"<sup>[]</sup> ''[[Backronym#False acronyms|posh]]'' from "[[Port Outward, Starboard Home|port out, starboard home]]",<sup>[]</sup> and ''[[golf]]'' from "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden".<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> [[Taboo word]]s in particular commonly have such false etymologies: ''[[shit]]'' from "ship/store high in transit"<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> or "special high-intensity training" and ''[[fuck]]'' from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent of the king".<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | ==Orthographic styling==
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| - | ===Punctuation===
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| - | ====Showing the ellipsis of letters====
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| - | In English, abbreviations have traditionally been written with a [[full stop|full stop/period/point]] in place of the deleted part to show the ellipsis of letters, although the [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] and [[apostrophe]] have also had this role. In the case of most acronyms and initialisms, each letter is an abbreviation of a separate word and, in theory, should get its own termination mark. Such punctuation is diminishing with the belief that the presence of all-capital letters is sufficient to indicate that the word is an abbreviation.
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| - | =====Ellipsis-is-understood style=====
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| - | Some influential [[style guide]]s, such as that of the [[BBC]], no longer require punctuation to show ellipsis; some even proscribe it. Larry Trask, American author of ''The [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] Guide to Punctuation'', states categorically that, in [[British English]], "this tiresome and unnecessary practice is now obsolete",<sup>[]</sup> though some other sources are not so absolute in their pronouncements<!--will get sources-->.
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| - | =====Pronunciation-dependent style=====
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| - | Nevertheless, some influential [[style guide]]s, many of them [[American English|American]], still require periods in certain instances. For example, ''[[The New York Times]]''’ guide recommends following each segment with a period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in ''[[KGB|K.G.B.]]'', but not when pronounced as a word, as in ''[[NATO]]''.<sup>[]</sup> The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme.
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| - | =====Other conventions=====
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| - | When a multiple-letter abbreviation is formed from a single word, periods are in general not used, although they may be common in informal usage. ''TV'', for example, may stand for a ''single'' word (''television'' or ''transvestite'', for instance), and is in general spelled without punctuation (except in the plural). Although ''PS'' stands for the single word ''postscript'' (or the Latin ''postscriptum''), it is often spelled with periods (''P.S.'').
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| - | The [[Slash (punctuation)|slash]] ('/', a.k.a. virgule) is sometimes used to show the ellipsis of letters, for instance in the initialisms ''N/A'' (''not applicable, not available'') and ''w/o'' (''without'').
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| - | Inconveniently long words used frequently in related contexts can be represented according to their letter count. For example, ''i18n'' abbreviates ''[[internationalization]]'', a computer-science term for adapting software for worldwide use. The ''18'' represents the 18 letters that come between the first and the last in ''internationalization''. ''Localization'' can be abbreviated ''l10n'', ''[[multilingualization]]'' ''m17n'', and ''[[accessibility]]'' ''a11y''. In addition to the use of a specific number replacing that amount of letters, the more general "x" can be used to replace an unspecified number of letters (e.g., Crxn for ''crystallization'').
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| - | ====Representing plurals and possessives====
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| - | Turabian<sup>[]</sup> (Chicago) allows for an apostrophe "only when an abbreviation contains internal periods or both capital and lowercase letters". The MLA<sup>[]</sup> is explicit "do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of an abbreviation". The APA is specific in<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> "without an apostrophe".
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| - | The traditional style of pluralizing single letters with the addition of ''’s'' (for example, ''B'''’'''s come after A'''’'''s'') was extended to some of the earliest initialisms, which tended to be written with periods to indicate the omission of letters; some writers still pluralize initialisms in this way. Some style guides continue to require such apostrophes{{ndash}} perhaps partly to make it clear that the lower case ''s'' is only for pluralization and would not appear in the singular form of the word, for some acronyms and abbreviations do include lowercase letters.
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| - | However, it has become common among many writers to [[inflection|inflect]] initialisms as ordinary words, using simple ''s'', without an apostrophe, for the plural. In this case, ''compact discs'' becomes ''CDs''. The logic here is that the apostrophe should be restricted to possessives: for example, ''the '''CD's''' label'' (the label of the compact disc).<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | Multiple options arise when initialisms are spelled with periods and are pluralized: for example, whether ''compact discs'' may become ''C.D.'s'', ''C.D.s'', or ''CDs''. Possessive plurals that also include apostrophes for mere pluralization and periods appear especially complex: for example, ''the C.D.’s’ labels'' (the labels of the compact discs). This is yet another reason to use apostrophes only for possessives and not for plurals. In some instances, however, an apostrophe may increase clarity: for example, if the final letter of an abbreviation is ''S'', as in ''SOS's'', or when pluralizing an abbreviation that has periods.<sup>[]</sup><sup>[]</sup> (In ''The New York Times'', the plural possessive of ''G.I.'', which the newspaper prints with periods in reference to [[United States Army]] soldiers, is ''G.I.'s'', with no apostrophe after the ''s''.)
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| - | A particularly rich source of options arises when the plural of an initialism would normally be indicated in a word other than the final word if spelled out in full. A classic example is ''Member of Parliament'', which in plural is ''Members of Parliament''. It is possible then to abbreviate this as ''M's P.''<sup>[]</sup><rsup>[]</sup> (or similar<sup>[]</sup>), as used by a former Australian Prime Minister.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} This usage is less common than forms with ''s'' at the end, such as ''MPs'', and may appear dated or pedantic. In common usage, therefore, ''weapons of mass destruction'' becomes ''WMDs'', ''prisoners of war'' becomes ''POWs'', and ''runs batted in'' becomes ''RBIs''.
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| - | The argument that initialisms should have no different plural form (for example, "If ''D'' can stand for ''disc'', it can also stand for ''disc'''s'''''") is in general disregarded because of the practicality in distinguishing singulars and plurals. This is not the case, however, when the abbreviation is understood to describe a plural noun already: For example, ''U.S.'' is short for ''United State'''s''''', but not ''United State''. In this case, the options for making a possessive form of an abbreviation that is already in its plural form without a final ''s'' may seem awkward: for example, ''U.S.’'', ''U.S.'s'', etc. In such instances, possessive abbreviations are often foregone in favor of simple [[adjective|attributive]] usage (for example, ''the '''U.S.''' economy'') or expanding the abbreviation to its full form and ''then'' making the possessive (for example, ''the '''United States’''' economy''). On the other hand, in speech, the pronunciation ''United States's'' sometimes is used.
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| - | Abbreviations that come from single, rather than multiple, words{{ndash}} such as ''TV'' (''television''){{ndash}} are pluralized without apostrophes: the apostrophe should be reserved for the possessive (''TV'''s''''').
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| - | In some languages, the convention of doubling the letters in the initialism is used to indicate plural words: for example, the Spanish ''EE. UU.'', for ''Estados Unidos'' (''United States''). This old convention is still followed for a limited number of English abbreviations, such as ''SS.'' for Saints, ''pp.'' for pages (although this is actually derived from the Latin abbreviation for ''paginae'') or ''MSS'' for manuscripts.
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| - | ===Case===
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| - | ====All-caps style====
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| - | The most common [[capitalization]] scheme seen with acronyms and initialisms is all-uppercase ([[All caps|all-caps]]), except for those few that have linguistically taken on an identity as regular words, with the [[acronymous]] etymology of the words fading into the background of common knowledge, such as has occurred with the words ''[[scuba set|scuba]]'', ''[[laser]]'', and ''[[radar]]'' — these are known as ''anacronyms'' (a portmanteau with [[anachronism]]).
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| - | =====Small-caps variant=====
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| - | [[Small caps]] are sometimes used to make the run of capital letters seem less jarring to the reader. For example, the style of some American publications, including the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''[[USA Today]]'', is to use small caps for acronyms and initialisms longer than three letters; thus "U.S." and "[[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]]" in normal caps, but "{{smallcaps|nato}}" in small caps. The initialisms "[[Anno Domini|AD]]" and "[[Before Christ|BC]]" are often smallcapped as well, as in: "From {{nowrap|4004 {{smallcaps|bc}} to {{smallcaps|ad}} 525}}".
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| - | ====Pronunciation-dependent style====
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| - | At the [[Copy editing|copyediting]] end of the publishing industry, where the aforementioned distinction between acronyms (pronounced as a word) and initialisms (pronounced as a series of letters) is usually maintained, some publishers choose to use cap/lowercase (c/lc) styling for acronyms, reserving all-caps styling for initialisms. Thus ''Nato'' and ''Aids'' (c/lc), but ''USA'' and ''FBI'' (caps). For example, this is the style used in ''[[The Guardian]]'',<sup>[]</sup> and [[BBC News]] typically edits to this style (though its official style guide, dating from 2003, still recommends all-caps <sup>[]</sup>). The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the capitalization scheme.
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| - | Some style manuals also base the letters' [[Letter case|case]] on their number. ''The New York Times'', for example, keeps ''NATO'' in all capitals (while several guides in the British press may render it ''Nato''), but uses lower case in ''[[United Nations Children's Fund|Unicef]]'' (from "United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund") because it is more than four letters, and to style it in caps might look ungainly (flirting with the appearance of "shouting capitals").
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| - | ===Numerals and constituent words===
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| - | While abbreviations typically exclude the initials of short [[function word]]s (such as "and", "or", "of", or "to"), they are sometimes included in acronyms to make them pronounceable. Sometimes the letters representing these words are written in lower case, such as in the cases of TfL ([[Transport for London]]) and LotR ([[Lord of the Rings]]). This usually occurs when the acronym represents a multi-word proper noun.
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| - | Numbers (both [[Cardinal number|cardinal]] and [[Ordinal number|ordinal]]) in names are often represented by [[numerical digit|digit]]s rather than initial letters: as in ''4GL'' ([[Fourth generation language]]) or ''G77'' ([[Group of 77]]). Large numbers may use [[SI prefix#Use outside SI|metric prefixes]], as with ''[[Y2K]]'' for "Year 2000" (sometimes written ''Y2k'', because the SI symbol for 1000 is ''k'' - not ''K'', which stands for ''[[kelvin]]''). Exceptions using initials for numbers include ''[[three letter acronym|TLA]]'' (three-letter acronym/abbreviation) and ''GoF'' ([[Gang of Four (software)|Gang of Four]]). Abbreviations using numbers for other purposes include repetitions, such as ''[[W3C]]'' ("World Wide Web Consortium"); pronunciation, such as ''[[Business-to-business|B2B]]'' ("business to business"); and [[numeronym]]s, such as ''i18n'' ("internationalization"; ''18'' represents the 18 letters between the initial ''i'' and the final ''n'').
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| - | ==Changes to (or word play on) the expanded meaning==
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| - | ===Pseudo-acronyms=== <!-- [[Pseudo-acronym]] is a redirect to this section -->
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| - | In some cases, an acronym or initialism has been redefined as a non-acronymous name—creating a [[pseudo-acronym]]. The term "[[orphan initialism]]" has also been used for names that began as an acronym but lost this status.<sup>[]</sup> Such an apparent acronym or other abbreviation, that does not stand for anything cannot be expanded to some meaning. For example, the letters of the [[SAT college entrance test|SAT]] (pronounced as letters) US college entrance test no longer officially stand for anything. This is common with companies that want to retain [[brand]] recognition while moving away from an outdated image: American Telephone and Telegraph became [[AT&T]], [[Kentucky Fried Chicken]] became [[KFC]] to de-emphasize the role of frying in the preparation of its signature dishes,<sup>[]</sup> [[BP|British Petroleum]] became BP and [[Silicon Graphics, Incorporated]] became SGI. [[DVD]] now has no official meaning.
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| - | Pseudo-acronyms may have advantages in international markets: for example, some national [[affiliate]]s of [[International Business Machines]] are legally incorporated as "IBM" (or, for example, "IBM Canada") to avoid translating the full name into local languages. Likewise, "[[UBS AG|UBS]]" is the name of the merged [[Union Bank of Switzerland]] and [[Swiss Bank Corporation]], and "[[HSBC]]" has replaced "The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation."
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| - | ===Recursive acronyms and RAS syndrome===
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| - | See Also [[Recursive acronym|RAS syndrome]]
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| - | Rebranding can lead to [[RAS syndrome|redundant-acronym syndrome syndrome]], as when [[Trustee Savings Bank]] became TSB Bank, or when [[Railway Express Agency]] became REA Express. A few [[high-tech]] companies have taken the redundant acronym to the extreme: for example, ISM Information Systems Management Corp. and SHL Systemhouse Ltd. An example in entertainment is the television shows ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' and ''[[NCIS (TV series)|Navy: NCIS]]'', where the redundancy was likely designed to educate new viewers as to what the initials stood for. The same stood for when the [[Royal Bank of Canada]]'s Canadian operations rebranded to RBC Royal Bank, or when [[Bank of Montreal]] rebranded their retail banking subsidiary BMO Bank of Montreal.
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| - | Another common example is ''[[RAM]] memory'', which is redundant because ''RAM'' (''random-access memory'') includes the initial of the word ''memory''. ''PIN'' stands for ''personal identification number'', obviating the second word in ''PIN number''. Other examples include ''[[Automated teller machine|ATM]] machine'' (''automated teller machine machine''), ''[[EAB bank]]'' (''European American Bank bank''), ''[[DC Comics]]'' (''Detective Comics Comics''), ''[[HIV]] virus'' (''human immunodeficiency virus virus''), Microsoft's NT Technology (''New Technology Technology'') and the formerly redundant ''[[SAT]] test'' (''Scholastic Achievement/Aptitude/Assessment Test test'', now simply ''SAT Reasoning Test''). [[Spike (TV network)|TNN]] (The Nashville/National Network) also renamed itself ''The New TNN'' for a brief interlude.
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| - | ===Simple redefining===
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| - | Sometimes, the initials continue to stand for an expanded meaning, but the original meaning is simply replaced. Some examples:
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| - | *[[DVD]] was originally an initialism of the unofficial term ''digital video disk'', but is now stated by the [[DVD Forum]] as standing for ''Digital Versatile Disc''.
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| - | *[[GAO]] changed the full form of its name from ''General Accounting Office'' to ''Government Accountability Office''.
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| - | *The OCLC changed the full form of its name from ''Ohio College Library Center'' to ''[[Online Computer Library Center]]''.
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| - | *[[RAID]] used to mean ''Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks'', but is now commonly interpreted as ''Redundant Array of Independent Disks''.
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| - | *WWF originally stood for ''World Wildlife Fund'', but now stands for ''[[Worldwide Fund for Nature]]'' (although the former name is still used in the US).
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| - | ===Backronyms===
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| - | See Also [[Backronym]]
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| - | A ''backronym'' (or ''bacronym'') is a [[phrase]] that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word. For example, the novelist and critic [[Anthony Burgess]] once proposed that the word "book" ought to stand for "'''B'''ox '''O'''f '''O'''rganized '''K'''nowledge."<sup>[]</sup> A classic real-world example of this in action is the name of the predecessor to the Apple Macintosh, The [[Apple Lisa]], which was said to refer to "Local Integrated Software Architecture", but Steve Jobs' daughter, born 1978, was named Lisa.
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| - | ===Macronyms/nested acronyms===
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| - | A ''macronym'', or ''nested acronym'', is an acronym in which one or more letters stand for acronyms themselves. A special type of macronym has letters that refer back to itself when expanded. These are called [[recursive acronyms]]. One of the earliest examples appears in The [[Hacker's Dictionary]] as [[Mung (computer term)|MUNG]], which stands for "MUNG Until No Good"
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| - | Some examples of recursive acronyms are:
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| - | * [[GNU]] stands for "GNU's Not Unix"
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| - | * [[LAME]] stands for "LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder"
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| - | * [[PHP]] stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"
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| - | * [[Wine (software)|WINE]] stands for "WINE Is Not an Emulator"
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| - | Non-recursive macronyms: <!-- with citations in each individual article's references -->
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| - | * [[XHR]] stands for XML HTTP Request, in which [[XML]] is eXtensible Markup Language, and [[HTTP]] stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.
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| - | * [[IBM POWER|POWER]] stands for "Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC", in which ([[RISC]] stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computing)
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| - | * [[VHDL]] stands for "VHSIC Hardware Description Language", in which ([[VHSIC]] stands for Very High Speed Integrated Circuit.) (This example is not a recursive acronym)
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| - | * [[XSD]] stands for "XML Schema Definition", in which ([[XML]] stands for eXtensible Markup Language.)
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| - | * [[SECS]] stands for "SEMI equipment communication standard", in which [[SEMI]] stands for "Semiconductor equipment manufacturing industries".
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| - | * [[AOL Instant Messenger|AIM]] stands for "AOL Instant Messenger", in which [[AOL]] stands for [[America Online]].
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| - | Some non-recursive macronyms can be ''multiply nested''—the second order acronym points to another one further down a hierarchy. In an informal competition run by the magazine [[New Scientist]], a fully documented specimen was discovered that may be the most deeply nested of all: [[RARS]] is the "Regional ATOVS Retransmission Service", ATOVS is Advanced [[TOVS]], TOVS is [[TIROS]] operational vertical sounder and TIROS is Television infrared observational satellite.<sup>[]</sup>
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| - | ==Non-English language==
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| - | ===Asian languages===
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| - | ====Chinese====
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| - | In English language discussion of languages with [[syllabary|syllabic]] or [[logographic]] writing systems (such as [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[Korean language|Korean]]), ''acronym'' describes short forms that take selected characters from a multi-character word.
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| - | For example, in Chinese, the word "大學"/"大学" ("[[university]]" in traditional/simplified Chinese, literally "big school"), when used with the name of the university, is usually abbreviated as "大" *"big"). So "北京大学" ([[Beijing University]] ("北京" = "Beijing", literally "north capital")) is commonly abbreviated to "北大" (literally "north big"). In this case, the first characters "北" and "大" from "北京" and "大学" are taken to compose the short form. In some cases, however, other characters than the first can be selected. For example, the local short form of "香港大學" ([[Hong Kong University]], "香港" = "Hong Kong") is "港大" rather than "香大". There are also cases where some longer phrases are abbreviated drastically. For instance, the word "全国人民代表大会" ([[National People's Congress]]) can be broken into four parts: "全国" = "the whole nation", "人民" = "people", "代表" = "representatives", "大会" = "conference". Yet, in its short form "人大" (literally "man/people big"), only the first characters from the second and the fourth parts are selected; the first part ("全国") and the third part ("代表") are simply ignored. In describing such abbreviations, the term ''initialism'' is inapplicable.
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| - | ====Indonesian====
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| - | {{see also|List of Indonesian acronyms and abbreviations}}
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| - | There is also a widespread use of acronyms and initialisms in [[Indonesia]] in every aspect of social life. For example, the '''[[Golkar]]''' political party stands for Partai '''Gol'''ongan '''Kar'''ya, '''[[Monas]]''' stands for "'''Mo'''numen '''Nas'''ional" (National Monument), the '''''Angkot''''' public transport stands for "'''Ang'''kutan '''Kot'''a" (city [[public transportation]]), '''''warnet''''' stands for "'''war'''ung inter'''net'''" ([[internet cafe]]), and many others. Some acronyms are considered formal (or officially adopted), while many more are considered informal, [[slang]] or [[colloquial]].
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| - | The capital metropolitan ([[Jakarta]] and its surrounding [[satellite city|satellite regions]]), '''[[Jabodetabek]]''', is another infamous acronym. '''''Jabodetabek''''' stands for '''Ja'''karta-'''Bo'''gor-'''De'''pok-'''Ta'''ngerang-'''Bek'''asi. Many highways are also named by acronym and initialism method; e.g. ''Jalan Tol'' (Toll Road) '''''Jagorawi''''' ('''Ja'''karta-Bo'''gor'''-Ci'''awi''') and '''''Purbaleunyi''''' ('''Pur'''wakarta-'''Ba'''ndung-Ci'''leunyi'''), Joglo Semar ('''Jog'''ja-so'''lo'''-'''semar'''ang).
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| - | In some languages, especially those that use certain [[alphabets]], many acronyms and initialisms come from the military. The [[Indonesian military]] (TNI-''Tentara Nasional Indonesia'') and [[Indonesian police]] (POLRI-''Kepolisian Republik Indonesia'') are infamous for heavy acronyms use. Examples include the '''[[Kopassus]]''' ('''Ko'''mando '''Pas'''ukan Khu'''sus'''; [[Special Forces]] Command), '''[[Kopaska]]''' ('''Ko'''mando '''Pas'''ukan '''Ka'''tak; [[Frogmen]] Command), '''''Kodim''''' ('''Ko'''mando '''Di'''strik '''M'''iliter; Military District Command - one of Indonesian army [[administrative divisions]]), '''''Serka''''' ('''Ser'''san '''K'''ep'''a'''la; Head [[Sergeant]]), '''''Akmil''''' ('''Ak'''ademi '''Mil'''iter; Military Academy - in [[Magelang]]) and many other terms regarding [[military ranks|ranks]], units, divisions, procedures, etc.
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| - | Heavy acronym and initialism use by Indonesians, makes it difficult for foreigners and learners of [[Indonesian language|Bahasa Indonesia]] to seek information and news in Indonesian [[media (communication)|media]].
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| - | ===German===
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| - | German tends toward acronyms that use syllables rather than letters—such as ''[[Gestapo]]'' rather than ''GSP'' (for ''Geheime Staatspolizei'', secret state police); ''Flak'' rather than ''FAK'' (for ''Fliegerabwehrkanone'', [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] gun); ''Kripo'' rather than ''KP'' (for ''[[Kriminalpolizei]]'', detective division police). The extension of such contraction to a pervasive or whimsical degree has been mockingly labeled ''AbKüFi'' (for ''Abkürzfimmel'', strange habit of abbreviating). Examples of AbKüFi include ''Vokuhila'' (for ''vorne kurz, hinten lang'', short in the front, long in the back, i.e., a [[Mullet (haircut)|mullet]]).
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| - | ===Hebrew===
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| - | {{Main|Hebrew acronyms}}
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| - | It is common to take more than just one initial letter from each of the words composing the acronym; regardless of this, the abbreviation sign [[gershayim]] is always written between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected form of the acronym, even if by this it separates letters of the same original word. Examples: ארה״ב (for ארצות הברית, the United States); ברה״מ (for ברית המועצות, the Soviet Union); ראשל״צ (for ראשון לציון, [[Rishon LeZion]]); ביה״ס (for בית הספר, the school). An example that takes only the initial letters from its component words is צה״ל (''"Tzahal"'', for {{lang|he|צבא הגנה לישראל}}, [[Israel Defense Forces]]). In inflected forms the abbreviation sign [[gershayim]] remains between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected form of the acronym (e.g. "report", singular: "דו״ח", plural: "דו״חות"; "squad commander", masculine: "מ״כ", feminine: "מ״כית").
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| - | ===Swahili===
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| - | In Swahili, acronyms are common for naming organizations such as TUKI, which stands for "Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili" (the institute for Swahili research). Multiple initial letters (often the initial syllable of words) are often drawn together, as seen more in some languages than others.
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| - | ===Declension===
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| - | In languages where nouns are [[declension|declined]], various methods are used. An example is Finnish, where a colon is used to separate inflection from the letters:
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| - | *An acronym is pronounced as a word: Nato nato| — Natoon [natoːn] "into Nato"
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| - | *An initialism is pronounced as letters: EU [eː uː] — EU:hun [eː uːhun] "into EU"
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| - | *An initialism is interpreted as words: EU [euroːpan unioni] — EU:iin [euroːpan unioniːn] "into EU"
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| - | The process above is similar to how, in English, hyphens are used for clarity when prefixes are added to acronyms, thus ''pre-NATO policy'' (rather than ''preNATO'').
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| - | ===Lenition===
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| - | In languages such as [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Irish language|Irish]], where [[lenition]] (initial consonant mutation) is commonplace, acronyms must also be modified in situations where case and context dictate it. In the case of Scottish Gaelic, a lower case "h" is added after the initial consonant; for example, ''[[BBC Scotland]]'' in the genitive case would be written as ''BhBC Alba'', with the acronym pronounced "VBC". Likewise, the Gaelic acronym for "television" (''gd: telebhisean'') is ''TBh'', pronounced "TV", as in English.
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| - | ==Extremes==
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| - | *The longest acronym, according to the 1965 edition of ''Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations Dictionary'', is ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC, a [[United States Navy]] term that stands for "Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command." Another term COMNAVSEACOMBATSYSENGSTA, which stands for "Commander, Naval Sea Systems Combat Engineering Station" is longer but the word "Combat" is not shortened.
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| - | *The world's longest initialism, according to the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'' is NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT (Нииомтплабопармбетжелбетрабсбомонимонконотдтехстромонт). The 56-letter initialism (54 in [[Cyrillic]]) is from the ''Concise Dictionary of Soviet Terminology'' and means "The laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building-assembly operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for building mechanization and technical aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]]."
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| - | ==See also==
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| - | * [[Acronyms in healthcare]]
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| - | * [[Acronyms in the Philippines]]
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| - | * [[Acrostic]]
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| - | * [[Amalgamation (names)]]
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| - | * [[Backronym]]
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| - | * [[Initialized sign]]
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| - | * [[Internet slang]]
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| - | * [[List of abbreviations]]
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| - | * [[List of abbreviations in photography]]
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| - | * [[List of acronyms and initialisms]]
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| - | * [[List of fictional espionage organizations]]
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| - | * [[List of Japanese Latin alphabetic abbreviations]]
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| - | * [[-onym]]
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| - | * [[Portmanteau]]
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| - | * [[RAS syndrome]] (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome)
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| - | * [[Recursive acronym]]
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| - | * [[Syllabic abbreviation]]
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| - | * [[Three letter acronym]]
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| - | ==References==
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| - | ==External links==
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| - | {{DEFAULTSORT:Acronym And Initialism}}
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| - | [[Category:Abbreviations| ]]
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| - | [[Category:Acronyms| Acronym]]
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| - | [[Category:Initialisms| Acronym]]
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| - | [[Category:Types of words]]
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