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Questions tagged [acronyms]

Acronyms are words which were created by taking the first letter (or several letters) of each word of a phrase.

Sometimes acronym is reserved for only those words which can be pronounced phonetically (such as scuba, radar, laser), in which case they are contrasted with initialisms (such as FBI, NAACP, BBC), which must be pronounced one letter at a time.

See Wikipedia’s page on acronyms and initialisms for more information.

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What does “l. s. d.” stand for?

Here is the original text from Lord Macaulay’s History of England: They are the men of double entry, magnifying routine. In business they have added mechanical device to mechanical device, they have put wind, water, steam, and electricity into…
George Chen
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When does an acronym lose its capitalization, e.g. RaDAR 'radar'?

The reason that I ask is because this is happening to LiDAR, and I am inclined to use lidar because it is easier to read.
David LeBauer
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Is "personal PCs" regarded as a case of RAS Syndrome?

Is it ok to talk about "personal PCs", in the sense of distinguishing it from a work PC? Or would it be regarded as a case of RAS Syndrome?
Golden Cuy
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Is it appropriate to treat "FYI" as a noun?

Since FYI stands for "for your information", I would tend to use it like this: FYI, I think the fish has gone bad. In other words, the acronym simply replaces the phrase. However, I've heard FYI used many times in the following way: As an FYI,…
gnovice
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Does pronouncing an initialism make it an acronym?

One definition of an acronym is: An abbreviation formed by (usually initial) letters taken from a word or series of words, that is itself pronounced as a word, such as RAM, radar, or scuba; sometimes contrasted with initialism. An initialism…
AncientSwordRage
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Is CAPTCHA a contrived acronym?

While I understand why USA PATRIOT is a contrived acronym, I don't understand if CAPTCHA should be considered a contrived acronym. Is CAPTCHA a contrived acronym? Why?
apaderno
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Is there a word for an acronym which spells out one of its component words?

The example I am thinking of is GNU, which stands for "GNU's not unix". It may be that there are no other examples. And maybe that's the whole joke. I was just wondering.
Urbycoz
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Articles, prepositions, and conjunctions in acronyms and initialisms

"Federal Bureau of Investigation" becomes FBI, instead of FBOI. Meanwhile, "Theory of Mind" becomes ToM or TOM, instead of TM. Is there any rule regarding inclusion of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions in acronyms? What should I do with such…
Thunderweb
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Is the meaning of the acronym "FAQ" generally understood?

When people see the acronym FAQ, I wonder if they really know what it stands for or whether they just understand the concept. Is this true for most native English speakers?
George Edison
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What does it mean when an article's headline starts with "TA:"?

TA: Bitcoin Consolidated above $36K, Why BTC Could Start A Fresh Increase Source: https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/btc/bitcoin-consolidated-above-36k/ I keep seeing this. What does it mean? Why do they insist on using cryptic acronyms which I…
M B
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Why does fMRI start with a lowercase letter?

Why does fMRI start with a lowercase f? As it stands for functional in functional magnetic resonance imaging. The fMRI Wikipedia page has a history section, but it does not explain why a lowercase f was used, nor when the term was first used. Is…
Nemexia
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Why do we say GBP instead of UKP?

I was torn between posting this here or on finance SE. I feel it's more likely to get useful answers here, if you disagree please comment. It is common for the UK pound (£) to be referred to as GBP, which I feel safe in assuming stands for "Great…
Darren H
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Which punctuation should be used for spelling out acronyms?

Is "COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)" more correct, or would "COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease]" be right?
Melody Horn
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Why is WFM used for "working from home"?

I've seen this used in several places, but WFH seems to make more sense to me. Is there some other significance that I'm missing besides the 'M' coming from the end of 'home'?
Dave Andersen
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Why is there no space between U. and S. in U.S. Government?

It appears that when U.S. Government agencies type "U.S.", they do not enter a space between the U. and the S. Is this used elsewhere on acronyms? Why or why not?
vy32
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