Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

I'm in the process of compiling what will hopefully be a reasonably representative (yet not too long!) list of initialisms (="an abbreviation that consists of the initial letters of a series of words or syllables, with these letters then only spelt out letter by letter rather than [able to be] said as a single word"). Are there any that you'd add to, delete from, or query in, the list so far:

AA, A & E, ABC(s), AC, AC/DC, AD, ADD, ADHD, AGM, AI, aka, AM, am, APR, ASAP, ATM, BA, B & B, BBC, BBQ, BC versus BCE, BEd, BO, BS or BSc, BSE, BYOB, CB, cc, CCTV, CD(-R etc), CE, CEO, CGI, CIA, CJD, CND, c/o, COD, CPR, CV, DA, DC, DHL, DIY, DJ, DVD, DVT, ECG, e.g., ER, ETA, EU, FA, FAQ, FBI, FC, FE, FM, FT, GCSE, GDP, GM, GMT, GP, GPA, GPS, HE, HIV, HMS, HQ, HR, HRH, IB, ID, i.e., IMF, IOU, IPA, IQ, ISBN, ISP, ITV, KFC, KO, kph, LCD, LSD, MA, MB, MBA, MC, MD, MIA, MOD, MP, mph, MP3, MRSA, MS, MSc, MSG, MTV, n/a, NB, NCO, NHS, NI, OAP, OCD, OK, OTT, OU, p & p, PC, PG, PhD, PIN, PM, pm, PMT, POW, PR, PS, PT, PTA, PTO, QC, q.v., RAF, R & ... , RDA, RE, RIP, RRP, sae/SASE, SAS, SMS, SOS, STD, TA, TB, TBA, 3D, TLC, TM, UFO, UK, UN, UPS, USA, USAF, USS, VAT, VIP, VP, WC, WHO, XL, YMCA.

[tttompatz]

[fluffyhamster]

Thanks, tttompatz. I'm after initialisms strictly speaking (acronym is the more general term, to be sure, but I only want items that have to be spelt letter-by-letter, so things like NATO are out). I had a quick look on e.g. Wiki, but their 'list of acronyms and initialisms' was far too long to comfortably browse. I'm sure I can come up with a serviceable enough list myself (will only take a few hours to browse e.g. the whole OALD), but if there are any common ones that I've overlooked, or any that aren't quite initialisms, please tell me. As for R &... , there are 3 in the OALD (R & B, R & D, R & R), but I didn't want to do all the list's potential user's work for them!

[johntpartee]

SOL

[fluffyhamster]

LOL! (Is that an initialism?). QED? Oh, and DNA.

[Mike_2007]

I think 'lol' has become an acronym.

OMG, BTW, IM(H)O, and FYI might be useful additions.

[fluffyhamster]

Thanks for the suggestions, Mike. OMG's a good one, at least for writing (saving time in SMSs etc). How do you pronounce LOL? "El oh el" or "loll/lull"? (Me, the latter). I was looking at BTW before, but when no pronunciation is indicated or to be found in the dictionaries I'm consulting, I err on the side of caution and treat the item as more of a visual~written than a spoken~sayable form (I mean, we don't actually say "bee tea double u" for BTW, and simply "by the way" would be quicker anyhow). I'm not sure though with IM(H)O and FYI, as one can see how the letters alone would be the quicker way to say the notion concerned (but again, dictionaries don't appear to have pronunciation guidance for those two). FYI has kind of always struck me as being a bit confrontational or unnecessary (BTW would do LOL).

[choudoufu]

ASAP
LGBT
BB
PDQ
DOA
TGIF
TTFN
ACLU
RPG
RPM
RSVP
S&P
KIA
BLT
ELO
BTU

[johntpartee]

[Sashadroogie]

KGB

[Sashadroogie]

RPG

[Sashadroogie]

NKVD

[Sashadroogie]

AK-47

[Mike_2007]

[fluffyhamster]

@Sasha: Hmm, guns, we could be here all day, and they may have synonyms (as in the well-known gulag song "You say AK47, I say Kalashnikov").