Acronyms and initialisms are a great way to save time on writing or saying unwieldy phrases, from graphics interchange format (GIF) to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Many of us know how it feels to not ...

In a recent newsletter, we asked the question “Who’s minding the acronym store?” The major point there was that our industry has a most confusing habit of reusing the same combinations of letters for ...

You fire off a quick text saying “BRB” without thinking twice. You dive into the ocean wearing SCUBA gear. You point a LASER at your presentation screen. But when was the last time you stopped and ...

We’ve been a little self-indulgent and playful during the holiday season, but readers are calling us back to business. Here’s one: For many years I have had anxiety about the plurals of acronyms and ...

The use of social media and the web in general is awash with odd sayings and initialisms. Sometimes they leave users a little confused. Social media experts at How Sociable analysed Google searches ...

Acronyms are stronger. Abbreviations are wimpy abbreviated versions of the real thing. Acronyms can take on lives of their own. Consider AARP. It used to mean “American Association of Retired Persons.

Initially, I didn't think I could say a lot about acronyms. I was wrong. An acronym uses the first letters of a few words to form a new word. The purpose is to shorten a long string of words to one ...

If an abbreviation formed from the first letters of several words is pronounced as one word, it's an acronym. Gif, laser and snafu are examples. If such an abbreviation is known by its letters, it's ...