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.
Definition of the word
Acronym is a Greek word. It consists of two parts: akros - high and onyma - name. This term means an abbreviation formed from the first letters of words or phrases of an expression.
Acronym or abbreviation?
Acronym is a type of abbreviation. Its difference is that acronyms are pronounced together in one word, and not sequentially in one letter. The difference is also noticeable in the spelling: in abbreviations, dots can often be put between letters, acronyms exclude this. In this case, both uppercase and lowercase letters are used in the spelling of words.
It is noteworthy that in English, many acronyms can become acronyms over time. For example, this happened with UNESCO: initially the word had a letter-by-word pronunciation, but it turned out to be much more convenient to pronounce the name together, and the abbreviation turned into UNESCO.
Official English Acronyms
In English, there are a huge number of abbreviations, including acronyms. Among them, for example, are the names of large institutions or corporations that are widely heard: NASA (NASA), NATO (NATO), UNO (UN).
The official widely used acronyms in English include the names of certain diseases or viruses, such as AIDS (AIDS).
By the way, the names of international English language exams are also acronyms: IELTS (The International English Language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). These names are well known to everyone who wants to receive a certificate recognized abroad that confirms the level of knowledge of the language.
The wave of cuts did not bypass even official correspondence. For example, there is a possibility of receiving an e-mail containing a request to send an ASAP reply (as soon as possible - as soon as possible).
It is also interesting that some terms, being English abbreviations, translated into Russian are exactly acronyms. For example, VIP.
Words that are hard to guess that they are acronyms
In the English language, there may be common nouns similar to the most ordinary words, but in fact they are acronyms. Who would have thought that radar is the combination of the first letters of the expression radio detection and ranging (radar), and laser is formed by the abbreviation of the phrase light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation?
Acronyms in American Slang
Since the modern language, including English (especially its American version), seeks to simplify, often used expressions are replaced by short acronyms. Some colloquial words "wander" into other languages, despite the loss of meaning due to translation. For example, Runet forums are full of Russified version of writing the expression IMHO (literally - in my humble opinion). The most common slang word OK in the world is an acronym, it comes from the phrase all correct with a spelling mistake deliberately made due to youth fashion.
The abbreviations popular today include the similar words LOL and ROFL, which stands for laughing out loud and rolling of the floor laughing, which can be translated as "laughing uncontrollably" and "rolling on the floor laughing."
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 repeated use of a word that is already included in the abbreviation. The opportunity to make a mistake is present, for example, in expressions such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) number or SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) module.