Modern English is full of abbreviations. Abbreviations are found both in everyday friendly correspondence and in official journalism. In order to better navigate the world of abbreviations, it is useful to understand what acronyms are, how they are formed and how to use them correctly.
Word Definition
Acronym is a Greek word. It consists of two parts: akros - high and onima - name. This term means an abbreviation formed from the first letters of words or phrases of an expression.
Acronym or abbreviation?
An acronym is a type of abbreviation. Its difference lies in the fact that acronyms are pronounced together, in one word, and not sequentially one letter at a time. The difference is also noticeable in spelling: in abbreviations, dots can often be placed between letters, acronyms exclude this. At the same time, both uppercase and lowercase letters are used in the spelling of words.
It is noteworthy that in English, many abbreviations can eventually become acronyms. For example, this happened with U. N. E. S. C. O: initially the word had a letter-by-letter pronunciation, but muchit turned out to be more convenient to pronounce the name together, and the abbreviation turned into UNESCO.
Official English acronyms
There are a huge number of abbreviations in the English language, including acronyms. Among them, for example, the names of large institutions or corporations that are on everyone's lips: NASA (NASA), NATO (NATO), UNO (UN).
Official commonly used acronyms in English can also include the names of some diseases or viruses, such as AIDS (AIDS).
By the way, the names of international English exams are also acronyms: IELTS (The International English Language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). These proper names are heard by everyone who wants to receive a certificate recognized abroad, confirming the level of knowledge of the language.
The wave of cuts has not bypassed even official correspondence. For example, it is possible to receive an e-mail asking for an ASAP response (as soon as possible).
It is also interesting that some terms, being English abbreviations, are exactly acronyms when translated into Russian. For example, VIP.
Words you can't guess are acronyms
In English, common nouns can also be found, similar to the most common words, but in fact they are acronyms. Who would have thought that radar is a collection of the first lettersradio detection and ranging, and laser is an abbreviation of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation?
Acronyms in American slang
As modern language, including English (especially its American version), tends to simplify, short acronyms are replacing frequently used expressions. Some colloquial words "roam" in other languages, despite the loss of meaning due to translation. For example, the Runet forums are full of Russified spelling of the expression IMHO (literally - in my humble opinion). The most common slang word in the world OK is an acronym, it comes from the phrase all correct with a spelling mistake deliberately made due to youth fashion.
Today's popular abbreviations include similar words LOL and ROFL, standing for laughing out loud and rolling of the floor laughing, respectively, which can be translated as "laughing uncontrollably" and "rolling on the floor with laughter."
Another acronym found in correspondence may be a message about the desire to continue the dialogue in the future: KIT (to keep in touch - to be in touch).
Important to remember
It is clear that acronyms have become completely familiar words and are already used everywhere. However, when communicating with a native English speaker, one should be wary of tautology due to the repeated use of a word that is already included in the contraction. There is a possibility of making a mistakefor example, in expressions such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) number or SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) module.
