Acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms, oh my! From text messages to in-person convos, we all use shorthand every day. But is your shortened way of expressing an idea an acronym? It depends on how you say it. Acronyms are formed by using the first letter of each word in a phrase to form a new word. For example, “you only live once” is shortened to the acronym YOLO, which you’d say as “yoh-loh.”
Common Acronyms in Pop Culture
You may not even realize that your favorite TV show, movie character or musician is using an acronym as their name!
ABBA (musical group) - Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid (first names of the band’s members)
BUMP (slang) - Bring Up My Post
HER (musician) - Having Everything Revealed
NERD (musical group) - No one Ever Really Dies
SHIELD (TV show) - Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division
WALL-E (animated character) - Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class
YAHOO (search engine) - Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle
Common Acronyms in Chat
Whether you’re DMing, texting or chatting in your favorite video game, acronyms are the key to keeping these messages quick and concise. These are the acronyms you probably use or read on the daily.
ASAP - As Soon As Possible
BAE - Before Anyone Else
BOLO - Be On the LookOut
FISH - First In, Still Here
FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format (but is it “jif” or “gif”?)
LOL - Laughing Out Loud (some people pronounce this as “lahl”)
YOLO - You Only Live Once
Common Initialisms in Chat
There is a bit of debate about whether initialisms are acronyms or if acronyms and initialisms are both just types of abbreviations. An initialism is an abbreviation that uses the first letter of each word in the phrase it’s describing (like an acronym), but you still say each letter of the initialism individually (unlike an acronym). For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigations is shortened to FBI, but you say it as “eff-bee-eye,” not “fbi.”
If you’re on the team that considers initialisms as a type of acronym, these are some common initialism examples:
AFK - Away From Keyboard
BBL - Be Back Later
BBS - Be Back Soon
BEG - Big Evil Grin
BRB - Be Right Back
BTW - By The Way
EG - Evil Grin
IDK - I Don't Know
IMO - In My Opinion
IRL - In Real Life
LMK - Let Me Know
NOYB - None of Your Business
OMG - Oh My God
POS - Parents Over Shoulder
ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing
SMH - Shaking My Head
TTYL - Talk To You Later
WTH - What The Heck (or Hell)
Common Acronyms in the Military and Government
Listening to conversations in a government or official settings can be a bit like hearing a new language for the first time. Get in-the-know with common acronyms used in government and military settings.
AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave
FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration
NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Navy SEALs - Navy Sea Air Land forces
POTUS - President of the United States
SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States
SWAT - Special Weapons And Tactics
Common Initialisms in the Military and Government
You won’t often hear these initialisms spoken as new words, even if some appear to spell out a new word.
CIA - Central Intelligence Agency
CPS - Child Protective Services
CSI - Crime Scene Investigation
DMV - Division of Motor Vehicles
DNC - Democratic National Committee
DOD - Department of Defense
DON - Department of the Navy
DZ - Drop Zone
FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation
GIB - GI Bill
MIA - Missing In Action
POW - Prisoner Of War
RNC - Republican National Committee
REAP - Reserve Education Assistance Program
UN - United Nations
USAF - United States Air Force
Common Informative Acronyms
Acronyms are a useful way to convey essential information quickly, but only if you know what they mean. Informative acronyms are commonly used in the medical field but have also crossed over from industries into daily life.
AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education
PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction (math order of operations)
RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging
SONAR - Sound Navigation And Ranging
ZIP code - Zone Improvement Plan code
Common Informative Initialisms
These abbreviations help quickly describe useful groups, items and actions.
ABS - Anti-lock Braking System
ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
AMA - Against Medical Advice
CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
DOA - Dead On Arrival
DOB - Date Of Birth
DIY - Do It Yourself
ESL - English As A Second Language
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus
IQ - Intelligence Quotient
MD - Medical Doctor
OTC - Over The Counter
PPV - Pay Per View
PS - Post Script
SUV - Sports Utility Vehicle
UFO - Unidentified Flying Object
Common Acronyms in Business
Acronyms are often used in the business world to identify a business or to create shorthand communication between co-workers.
CAPTCHA - Completely Automated Public Turing Test (to tell Computers and Humans Apart)
DAEMON - Disk And Execution Monitor
KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid
NASDAQ - National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
SMART Goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound Goals
TED - Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me
Common Initialisms in Business
Business people often speak in initialisms once they’re comfortable with the industry lingo.
ADP - Automated Data Processing
AKA - Also Known As
CDT - Central Daylight Time
CST - Central Standard Time
DBA - Doing Business As
DND - Do Not Disturb
EDS - Electronic Data Systems
EOD - End of Day
EOW - End of Week
EDT - Eastern Daylight Time
EST - Eastern Standard Time
ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
FYI - For Your Information
HR - Human Resources
MBA - Masters of Business Administration
MDT - Mountain Daylight Time
MST - Mountain Standard Time
POS - Point Of Service
PR - Public Relations
PDT - Pacific Daylight Time
PST - Pacific Standard Time
TBA - To Be Announced
TBD - To Be Determined
Common Acronyms as Identifiers
Some acronyms identify an organization or person by shortening a long name into a pronounced acronym. Explore these common identifiers for organizations and dating.
FLAG – Foreign Language Association of Georgia
MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Driving
PAWS – Progressive Animal Welfare Society
PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Common Initialisms and Identifiers
Although it’s not unheard of for people to pronounce AARP as “arp” these days, these initialisms aren’t true acronyms — yet.
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous
AARP – American Association of Retired Persons
ADA – American Dental Association
AFL – American Football League
AMA – American Medical Association
APA – American Psychological Association
ESPN – Entertainment and Sports Programming Network
LDR - Long Distance Relationship
MLA – Modern Language Association
MOTOS - Member Of The Opposite Sex
MOTSS - Member Of The Same Sex
NBA – National Basketball Association
NFL – National Football League
NHL – National Hockey League
PGA – Professional Golfer’s Association
SPCA – Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
SO - Significant Other
SWF – Single White Female
SWM – Single White Male
WWE – World Wrestling Entertainment
Speak in Shorthand
Abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms are all fair game for becoming new words thanks to the anything-goes attitude of today’s wordsmiths. Who knows — you might even invent an acronym that becomes commonplace years from now.