Eric’s Blog

Today I learned that acronyms are different than abbreviations.

The biggest difference is that acronyms can be spoke like a word (e.g. NASA), whereas abbreviations are spoken one letter at a time (e.g. FBI).

In both cases, the first letter of each agency’s full name are taken in order to shorten it. Think of it as the initials of the agency’s name. One is pronounced as a new word, NASA, the other is spoken one letter at a time, F. B. I.

Abbreviations go a bit further, we use them every day. Doctor can be abbreviated to Dr. Professor can be shortened to Prof. Some have universally recognized abbreviations, others can be made up as you go. One trick I learned in college was to remove the vowels from a word when taking notes to abbreviate it. For example, boulevard is almost universally recognized as Blvd. However, sequestration could be sqstrtn or any other variation you could think of that will save you time and remind you later what you were taking notes about.

Acronyms you maybe didn’t know about…

• RADAR – Radio Detection and Ranging
• FUBAR – F***** Up Beyond All Repair
• SNAFU – Situation Normal, All F***** Up
• TASER – Thomas Albert Swift Electric Rifle
• BOHICA – Bend Over, Here It Comes Again
• SONAR – Sound Navigation and Ranging
• FUPA – Fat Upper Pubic Area
• LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
• SEPCOR – Separate Correspondence

I’ve just realized all my acronyms are either dirty or technical in nature. That must have something to do with my 21 years of military service.

Some fun abbreviations for your consideration..

• DVD – Digital Versatile Disc
• DTF – Down To Fornicate
• FBI – Full Blooded Italian (gotcha!)
• SKU – Stock Keeping Unit (barcode on a grocery store item)
• OED – Oxford English Dictionary
• BTW – By the way
• LOL – Laughing Out Loud
• ROTFLMAO – Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off
• ICYMI – In Case You Missed It
• WTF – What’s This For? (gotcha again!)
• BYDHTTMWFI – But You Don’t Have to Take My Word For It

The list literally could go on forever.

There are other types of shorthand and memory mnemonics that go far beyond the scope of this post, but I’ll save those for another time.