Acroname

Acronym

An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters (as in laser) or parts of words (as in Benelux and Ameslan). There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of various names for such abbreviations (see nomenclature) nor on written usage (see orthographic styling). In English and most other languages, such abbreviations historically had limited use, but they became much more common in the 20th century. Acronyms are a type of word formation process, and they are viewed as a subtype of blending.

Technically, a word that is formed by combining some parts (usually the first letters) of some other terms. For example, modem  is the acronym derived from modulator/demodulator. In everyday speech, the term is also used to refer to initialisms, which are combinations of letters representing a longer phrase. For example, CRT is an initialism for cathode ray tube. The difference is that an acronym is pronounced as if it were a word rather than just a series of individual letters.

Newsgroups, chat rooms, and e-mail have spawned a rich set of acronyms and initialisms for common phrases. A few of the more common ones are listed below.

Acronym/Initialism | Meaning |

ASAP | As Soon As Possible |

BTW | By The Way |

FWIW | For What It's Worth |

FYI | For Your Information |

IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |

IMO | In My Opinion |

LOL | Laughing Out Loud |

ROTFL | Rolling On The Floor Laughing |

RTFM | Read The #&!@ing Manual |

TIA | Thanks In Advance |

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

* UNICEF: United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

* Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial...