What Is the Difference Between an Abbreviation and an Acronym?

Read more at http://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/what-is-the-

difference-between-an-abbreviation-and-an-
acroynm.html#hmsbE2qVlfwMWJmf.99

image: http://www.yourdictionary.com/index.php/image/articles/7009.ASAP.jpg

An abbreviation and an acronym are both shortened versions of

something else. Both can often be represented as a series of letters.
Many people are unable to tell the difference between an abbreviation and
an acronym.

Abbreviation vs. Acronym

There is a great deal of overlap between abbreviations and acronyms.
Every acronym is an abbreviation because the acronym is a shortened
form of a word or phrase. However, not every abbreviation is an acronym,
since some abbreviations - those made from words - are not new words
formed from the first few letters of a series of words.

Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, as N.Y. for New
York, Mr. for Mister, lb for pound or ctn for carton.
There are millions of common abbreviations used every day.
When you write out your address, most people write "St. or Ave."
instead of "street" or "avenue."
When you write the date, you may abbreviate both the day of the
week (Mon, Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun.) and the month of the
year (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).
 There are also tons of industry specific abbreviations that you may
be unaware of unless you are in the industry, such as medical
abbreviations or dental abbreviations.
Shortening the word "Avenue" to "Ave." is an abbreviation, because it is
the shortened version of the word. However, it is not an acronym since the
word AVE is not a new word comprised of the first few letters of a phrase.

Acronym
An acronym, technically, must spell out another word. However, this rule
isn't always rigidly enforced:
ASAP is an acronym although the word "asap" is not in many
dictionaries. Still, the first letters of each of the words "As Soon As
Possible" are used to form the acronym ASAP.
NY is the acronym for New York. Since this acronym is a shortened
version of the phrase, by definition the acronym is also an abbreviation.
Like abbreviations, acronyms are used daily, and most people can
interpret the meaning of common acroynms without much thought. For
example:
You go to the ATM instead of to the automatic teller machine
You give your time zone as EST, CST or PST instead of as Eastern
Standard Time, Central Standard Time or Pacific Standard Time.
You use words like BRB (be right back), LOL (laughing out loud), and
ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) when texting. These new acronyms were
derived from computer lingo. All of these new acronyms are also
abbreviations because they are all shortened versions of phrases that IM-
ers were using frequently.
Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened versions of words and phrases
to speed up our communication. Be sure to use them correctly - since, a
misuse can lead to a big miscommunication.

Read more at http://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/what-is-the-

difference-between-an-abbreviation-and-an-
acroynm.html#hmsbE2qVlfwMWJmf.99
DEFINITION

acronym

Posted by: Margaret Rouse

WhatIs.com

Contributor(s): John F. Kohler, Hugh de Glanville

Word of the Day

 CAPTCHA

A CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and

Humans Apart) is a type of challenge-response system designed to differentiate
humans from robotic software programs.

Subscribe to the Word of the Day

Word of the Day Archive

20 Newest and Updated Terms

vertical market

iPad

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and

Humans Apart)

application-aware storage

unicorn

Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA)

superposition

SD-WAN (software-defined WAN)

CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association)

enterprise master patient index (EMPI)

3D XPoint

authorized service provider (ASP)

supply chain sustainability

software-defined storage (SDS)

data compression

empirical analysis

Oracle
 VMware Workstation Pro

Oracle extents

spectrum analyzer

An acronym (pronounced AK-ruh-nihm, from Greek acro- in the

sense of extreme or tipand onyma or name) is an abbreviation
of several words in such a way that the abbreviation itself
forms a pronounceable word. The word may already exist or it
can be a new word. Webster's cites snafu and radar, two terms
of World War Two vintage, as examples of acronyms that were
created.

According to the strictest definition of an acronym, only

abbreviations that are pronounced as words qualify. So by
these standards, for example, COBOL is an acronym because
it's pronounced as a word but WHO (World Health Organization)
is not an acronym because the letters in the abbreviation are
pronounced individually. However, opinions differ on what
constitutes an acronym: Merriam-Webster, for example, says
that an acronym is just "a word formed from the initial letters
of a multi-word name."

Frequently, acronyms are formed that use existing words (and

sometimes the acronym is invented first and the phrase name
represented is designed to fit the acronym). Here are some
examples of acronyms that use existing words:

BASIC (Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)

NOW (National Organization for Women)
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards)

Abbreviations that use the first letter of each word in a phrase

are sometimes referred to as initialisms. Initialisms can be but
are not always acronyms. AT&T, BT, CBS, CNN, IBM, and NBC
are initialisms that are not acronyms. Many acronym lists you'll
see are really lists of acronyms and initialisms or just lists of
abbreviations. (Note that abbreviations include shortened
words like "esp." for "especially" as well as shortened
phrases.)

Summing up:

An abbreviation is a shortening of a word or a phrase.

An acronym is an abbreviation that forms a word.

An initialism is an abbreviation that uses the first letter of

each word in the phrase (thus, some but not all initialisms
are acronyms).

Furthermore:

An acronym so familiar that no one remembers what it

stands for is called an anacronym (For example, few people
know that COBOL stands for Common Business Oriented
Language.)

An acronym in which one of the letters stands for the

actual word abbreviated therein is called a recursive
acronym. (For example, VISA is said to stand for VISA
International Service Association.)
 An acronym in which the short form was original and
words made up to stand for it afterwards is called
a backronym. (For example, SOS was originally chosen as a
distress signal because it lent itself well to Morse code. Long
versions, including Save Our Ship and Save our Souls, came
later.)

An acronym whose letters spell a word meaningful in the

context of the term it stands for is called an apronym. (For
example, BASIC, which stands for Beginner's All-purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code, is a very simple programming
language.)

This was last updated in October 2007 (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/acronym)

 In textspeak, the abbreviation (or initialism) OMG stands for "Oh my God" or "Oh my goodness.".
(Jacquie Boyd/Getty Images)

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-abbreviation-1689046
 Languages

English Grammar
o Glossary of Key Terms
o Using Words Correctly
o Writing Tips & Advice
o Sentence Structures
o Rhetoric & Style
o Punctuation & Mechanics
o Developing Effective Paragraphs
o Developing Effective Essays
English as a Second Language
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
by Richard Nordquist

Updated April 18, 2017

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, such as Jan. for January. The
abbreviated form of the word abbreviation is abbr.--or, less commonly, abbrv.
or abbrev.

In American English, many abbreviations are followed by a period (Dr., Ms.). In

contrast, British usage generally favors omitting the period (or full stop) in
abbreviations that include the first and last letters of a single word (Dr, Ms).

When an abbreviation appears at the end of a sentence, a single period serves both to
mark the abbreviation and to close the sentence.

Linguist David Crystal notes that abbreviations are "a major component of the English
writing system, not a marginal feature. The largest dictionaries of abbreviations contain
well over half a million entries, and their number is increasing all the time" (Spell It Out,
2014).

See Examples and Observations below.

Acronym

Backronym

Commonly Confused Latin Abbreviations in English

Common Revision Symbols and Abbreviations

 Common Scholarly Abbreviations

E.g. and I.e.

Etc. and Et al.

Initialese

Initialism

Logograph

ETYMOLOGY

From the Latin, "short"

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

"In general, spell out the names of government bureaus and agencies, well-known
organizations, companies, etc., on first reference. In later references, use short forms
like the agency or the company when possible because handfuls of initials make for
mottled typography and choppy prose."

"Abbreviations may be ironic, humorous, or whimsical: for example, the rail link
between the town of Bedford and the London station of St. Pancras is locally known
as the Bedpan Line; a comparable link for Boston, New York, and Washington is the
Bosnywash circuit. Comments on life may be telescoped into such sardonic packages
as: BOGSAT a Bunch Of Guys Sitting Around a Table (making decisions about other
people); GOMER Get Out of My Emergency Room (said by physicians to
hypochondriacs); MMMBA Miles and Miles of Bloody Africa (an in-group term among
people who have to travel those miles); TGIF Thank God It's Friday (after a particularly
hard working week)."

Abbreves
"Today, the fave (for 'favorite) abbreves are obvi (a shortening of 'Thank you, Captain
Obvious) and belig (a clipping of 'belligerent,' retaining the soft g). Nobody in the young-
barflies crowd orders 'the usual; its the yoozh. My grandnephew Jesse concludes
sentences with whatev, which is probs (for 'probably) 'whatever.' In this cacophony of
abbreves, word endings are scattered all over the floor. Go fig."

Tote-Speak

"You see it on Twitter a lot, people exclaiming about their totes delish spags or
their totes redic boyfs. Linguists Lauren Spradlin and Taylor Jones call
this practice 'totesing'the systematic abbreviation ('abbreviash') of words to
effect a certain tone. The fad might have started with 'totally' becoming totes, but
at this point, no entry in the English lexicon is safe.
 The following are some real words produced by real human beings on Twitter:

Totes tradge (tragic): David Bowie dying is totes tradge.

Bluebs (blueberries): Bluebs in yog are my favorite snack.

Totes emosh (emotional): When Cookie hugged Jamal it made me totes

emosh.

iPh (iPhone): OMG I dropped my iPh!

If youre not a millennialand even if you areyou might think

totesing is atrosh and unprofesh. But get used to it. Though no one is quite sure where it
came from, this way of speaking has been around for well over a decade."

Logograms
"'Logograms' . . . play a part in the English writing system: these are cases where
a word is not just shortened, but entirely replaced with a symbol. Examples
include @ for 'at,' for 'pound,' % for 'per cent,' and + for 'plus.' The ampersand,
&, is one of the oldest. It is a collapsed version of the Latin word et, 'and': the
bottom circle is what's left of the e, and the rising tail on the right is what's left of
the t. Numerals are another kind of lopgram: we read 1, 2, 3, etc. as 'one, two,
three...' And it is part of the business of learning to read and write to know when
we should write words in their logographic form and when to spell them out."

PRONUNCIATION

ah-BREE-vee-AY-shun

SOURCES

A. Siegal, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, 1999

Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, 1992

William Safire, "Abbreve That Template." The New York Times Magazine, May 21,
2009

Jeff Guo, "The Totes Amazesh Way Millennials Are Changing the English
Language." The Washington Post, January 13, 2016

David Crystal, Spell It Out. Picador, 2014

What Is an Acronym?
Share
Pin
Email
The name of the 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA is an acronym derived from the first names of the
group's members: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid. (RB/Getty Images)

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-acronym-1689058
 Languages

English Grammar
o Glossary of Key Terms
o Using Words Correctly
o Writing Tips & Advice
o Sentence Structures
o Rhetoric & Style
o Punctuation & Mechanics
o Developing Effective Paragraphs
o Developing Effective Essays
English as a Second Language
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
by Richard Nordquist

Updated April 11, 2017

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a name (for example, NATO,
from North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or by combining initial letters of a series of
words (radar, from radio detection and ranging). Adjective: acronymic. Also called
a protogram.

Strictly speaking, says lexicographer John Ayto, an acronym "denotes a

combination pronounced as a word . . . rather than as just a sequence of letters" (A
Century of New Words, 2007).

An anacronym is an acronym (or another initialism) for which the expanded form isn't
widely known or used, such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).

See Examples and Observations below.

Abbreviation

Backronym

Guidelines for Using Capital Letters

Initialese

Initialism
 Internet Slang

Mnemonic

Name That -nym

Proper Name

RAS Syndrome

Ten Tips for Using Abbreviations in Formal Writing

Textspeak

ETYMOLOGY

From the Greek, "point" + "name"

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

Acronyms and Abbreviations

"The difference between acronyms and abbreviations is this: acronyms are proper
words created from the initial letter or two of the words in a phrase, and they are
pronounced like other words (cf. snafu, radar, laser, or UNESCO). By contrast,
abbreviations do not form proper words, and so they are pronounced as strings of letters,
for example, S.O.B., IOU, U.S.A., MP, lp, or tv."

"I have a couple of lists that I can refer to throughout the day, but I don't have the
official 'FAT' book yet. Yes, it really is called the FAT (Federal Acronym and Terms)
book."

Acronymic Textspeak
"Many acronyms meant to be written have wormed their way into spoken language--
just ask your BFF, or the co-worker who prefaces everything with 'FYI.' Lately, this is
also the case for Internet slang."

NIMBY
NIMBY: from "Not In My Back Yard"--for a person who opposes anything scheduled to
be built near his or her residence

FEMA
"Re-branding FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) doesn't fix the problem;
it just puts a new acronym on it."

The Ancient Roots of Acronymy

"Acronymy has ancient roots, as illustrated by the early Christian use of the Greek
word ichthys meaning 'fish' as an acronym for Isous Christos, Theou Huios,
Str ('Jesus Christ, God's son, Savior'). In English, the first known acronyms (as
opposed to plain old initialisms) cropped up in the telegraphic code developed by Walter
 P. Phillips for the United Press Association in 1879. The code abbreviated 'Supreme
Court of the United States' as SCOTUS and 'President of the' as POT, giving way
to POTUS by 1895. Those shorthand labels have lingered in journalistic and diplomatic
circles--now joined by FLOTUS, which of course stands for 'First Lady of the United
States.'"

PRONUNCIATION

AK-ri-nim

SOURCES

Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism. Oxford University Press,
1991

Douglas Quenqua, "Alphabet Soup." The New York Times, September 23, 2011

David Marin

Ben Zimmer, "On Language: Acronym." The New York Times Magazine, December 19,
2010
backronym (words)

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

Share
Pin
Email

Initially named for Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered, AMBER
Alert is a backronym for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.". (Alex Wong/Gewtty
Images)
 Languages

English Grammar
o Glossary of Key Terms
o Using Words Correctly
o Writing Tips & Advice
o Sentence Structures
o Rhetoric & Style
o Punctuation & Mechanics
o Developing Effective Paragraphs
o Developing Effective Essays
English as a Second Language
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
by Richard Nordquist

Updated June 28, 2017

DEFINITION

A backronym is a reverse acronym: an expression that has been formed from the
letters of an existing word or name. Alternate spelling: bacronym. Also known as
an apronym or reverse acronymy.

Examples include SAD ("Seasonal Affective Disorder"), MADD ("Mothers Against

Drunk Driving"), ZIP code ("Zone Improvement Plan"), and USA PATRIOT
Act ("Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism").
The word backronym is a blend of "backward" and "acronym." According to Paul
Dickson in Family Words (1998), the term was created by "Meredith G. Williams of
Potomac, Maryland, to cover the likes of GEORGE (Georgetown Environmentalists
Organization against Rats, Garbage, and Emissions) and NOISE (Neighbors Opposed to
Irritating Sound Emissions)."

See Examples and Observations below. Also see:

Back-Formation

Folk Etymology

Initialism

Introduction to Etymology: Word Histories

Mnemonic

Name That -nym: A Brief Introduction to Words and Names

Neologism

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

"SOS is an example of a backronym, with people claiming it stands for 'save our ship'
or 'save our souls'--when, in fact, it doesn't stand for anything."
(Mitchell Symons, Where Do Nudists Keep Their Hankies? HarperCollins, 2007)

Antonyms and Backronyms

"This particular kind of etymological myth--the after-the-fact association of a word with
a phrase--has become so common that it has acquired a whimsical name: backronym.
The difference is timing: which came first, the phrase or the word? Scuba, for example, is
a true acronym, evolved from 'self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.' Golf, on
the other hand--contrary to widely circulated myth--does not stand for 'Gentlemen Only,
Ladies Forbidden." That's a backronym. Other backronyms wrongly believed to be actual
etymologies include 'Constable on Patrol' and 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.'"
(James E. Clapp, Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Marc Galanter, and Fred R. Shapiro, Lawtalk:
The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions. Yale University Press, 2011)

ACHOO
"Some people, like me, inherit a genetic oddity that causes them to sneeze when
confronted by bright light. I'm afraid this syndrome has been given the overly cute
acronym of ACHOO (autosomol dominant compelling helio-ophthalmic outburst)."
(Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses. Vintage Books, 1990)

COLBERT
"What do you do when you're NASA and comedian Stephen Colbert wins your contest to
name the new wing for the International Space Station? You name an orbital exercise
machine after him.
 "The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT,
is expected to keep astronauts in shape.

"With the help of a legion of fans, Colbert got the most votes in the space agency's online
poll soliciting names for Node 3, which will be called Tranquility after the Sea of
Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed on the moon."
("NASA Names Cosmic Treadmill After Colbert." CNN Entertainment, April 15, 2009)

SHERLOCK and RALPH

"Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle have a society called Sherlock Holmes Enthusiastic
Readers League of Criminal Knowledge, or SHERLOCK, a creative, if
strained, backronym. In 1982, admirers of comedian Jackie Gleason organized the
Royal Association for the Longevity and Preservation of the Honeymooners, or RALPH,
which happens to be the first name of Gleason's TV character, Ralph Cramden."
(Chrysti M. Smith, Verbivore's Feast, Second Course: More Word & Phrase Origins.
Farcountry Press, 2006)

Cabal
"The backronym cabal was formed from the names of five ministers of King Charles II.
The ministers, Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, were at the
bottom of various political intrigues in the early 1670s. According to history, these five,
plus others, defaulted on the national debt by closing the exchequer in 1670, started a
war with Holland in 1672, and entered into an alliance with the hated French in 1673.
The English use of the word cabalto mean a group of conspirators predates the nefarious
schemes of these five men by at least 25 years."
(David Wilton, Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Oxford University
Press, 2009)

Perl
"Perl is a word that has backronyms. Various expansions attributed to the letters in
Perl were invented after the programming language was named. Practical Extraction and
Report Language is a popular backronym for Perl. A less gracious backronym is
Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister."
(Jules J. Berman, Perl Programming for Medicine and Biology. Jones & Bartlett, 2007)

Pronunciation: BAK-ri-nim

Alternate Spellings: bacronym

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-backronym-words-1689016
back-formation (words)

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

Share
Pin
Email
 " Burgle (back-formed from burglar) continues to have a jocular effect (in AmE)," says Bryan Garner, "as
do effuse, emote, laze, and the learned word metamorphose" ( Garner's Modern American Usage, 2009).
(Image Source/Getty Images)
 Languages

English Grammar
o Glossary of Key Terms
o Using Words Correctly
o Writing Tips & Advice
o Sentence Structures
o Rhetoric & Style
o Punctuation & Mechanics
o Developing Effective Paragraphs
o Developing Effective Essays
English as a Second Language
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
by Richard Nordquist

Updated April 25, 2017

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word (a neologism) by

removing actual or supposed affixes from another word. Put simply, a back-formation is
a shortened word (such as edit) created from a longer word (editor). Verb: back-
form (which is itself a back-formation). Also called back-derivation.

The term back-formation was coined by Scottish lexicographer James Murray, the
primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until 1915.

As Huddleston and Pullum have noted, "There is nothing in the forms themselves that
enables one to distinguish between affixation and back-formation: it's a matter of
historical formation of words rather than of their structure" (A Student's Introduction
To English Grammar, 2005).

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

singular noun pea from the older English plural pease

the verb burgle from the older English noun burglar

the verb diagnose from the older English noun diagnosis

"He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually
disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled, so I tactfully changed the subject."
(P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters, 1938)
 "Here I was maybe forty minutes ago, sort of claustrophobed in the gap between the
kickass movie world where Lila dumps the guy with the smarmy mustache and the
obvious one where it just keeps getting later."
(Daniel Handler, Adverbs. Ecco, 2006)

"Stripping the in- from inchoate is known as back-formation, the same process that
has given us words like peeve (from peevish), surveil (from surveillance)
and enthuse (from enthusiasm). Theres a long linguistic tradition of removing parts of
words that look like prefixes and suffixes to come up with 'roots' that werent there to
begin with."
(Ben Zimmer, "Choate." The New York Times, January 3, 2010)

SUFFIX SNIPPING

"Alan Prince studied a girl who . . . was delighted by her discovery

that eats and cats were really eat + -s and cat + -s. She used her new suffix snipper to
derive mik (mix), upstair, downstair, clo (clothes), len (lens), brefek (from brefeks, her
word for breakfast), trappy (trapeze), even Santa Claw. Another child, overhearing his
mother say they had booze in the house, asked what a 'boo' was. One seven-year-old said
of a sports match, 'I don't care who they're going to verse,' from expressions like the Red
Sox versus the Yankees." (Steven Pinker, Words and Rules: The Ingredients of
Language. HarperCollins, 1999)

"In many cases of back-formation a presumed affix is removed which is in fact not
truly an affix, as in the following words where the -or, -ar, and -er are not the agentive
suffix, but part of the root: orator - -er> orate, lecher + -er> lech, peddler + -er> peddle,
escalator + -er> escalate, editor + -er> edit, swindle + -er> swindle, sculptor + -
er> sculpt, hawker + -er> hawk. These mistakes are called back-formations. Note
that some of them are colloquial or marginal, while others are fully accepted." (Laurel J.
Brinton, The Structure of Modern English: A Linguistic Introduction. John Benjamins,
2000)

BACK-FORMATION IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

"[T]he weakening of the flexional endings during the early Middle English period, which
made possible the derivation from verbs of a multitude of nouns, and vice-versa, was
also an essential to the rise of and development of back-formation." (Esko V.
Pennanen, Contributions to the Study of Back-Formation in English, 1966)

BACK-FORMATION IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

"Back formation continues to make a few contributions to the

language. Televisionhas given televise on the model of revise/revision,
and donation has given donate on the model of relate/relation. Babysitter and stage
manager have given babysit and stage manage for obvious reasons. More remote was
the surprising lase from laser(the latter an acronym for 'lightwave amplification by
stimulated emission of radiation'), recorded from 1966." (W.F.
Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House,
1982)

FILLING A VOID

"Backformations are more likely to occur with very strongly entrenched patterns and
they have the effect of filling an apparent void. The process has given us common verbs
such
as afflict (from affliction), enthuse (from enthusiasm), laze (from lazy), liaise from liais
on), aggress (from aggression), televise (from television), housekeep(from housekeeper
), jell (from jelly), and many more." (Kate Burridge, Gift of the Gob: Morsels of English
Language History. HarperCollins Australia, 2011)

USAGE

"[B]ack-formations are objectionable when they are merely needless variations of

already existing verbs:

back-formed verb - ordinary verb

*administrate - administer
*cohabitate - cohabit
*delimitate - delimit
*interpretate - interpret
*orientate - orient
*registrate - register
*remediate - remedy
*revolute - revolt
*solicitate-solicit

Many back-formations never gain real legitimacy (e.g., *elocute, *enthuse), some are
aborted early in their existence (e.g., *ebullit, *evolute), and still others are of
questionable vigor (e.g., aggress, attrit, effulge, evanesce, frivol). . . .

"Still, many examples have survived respectably."

(Bryan Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press,
2009)

Pronunciation: BAK for-MAY-shun

https://www.thoughtco.com/back-formation-words-1689154

Word Formation: Coinages, Nonce Words, Borrowing, and

Calquing
 written by: Heather Marie Kosur edited by: Tricia Goss updated: 1/17/2012

Creating new words in English, covers the related word formation processes of coinages, nonce words,
borrowing, and calquing.

Coinages
Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or
accidentally without using the other word formation processes and often from seemingly nothing. For
example, the following list of words provides some common coinages found in everyday English:
aspirin
escalator
heroin
band-aid
factoid
Frisbee
Google
kerosene
Kleenex
Laundromat
linoleum
muggle
nylon
psychedelic
quark
Xerox
zipper
Notice that many coinages start out as brand names for everyday items such as Kleenex for a facial
tissue. Coinages are also referred to simply as neologisms, the word neologism meaning "new word."

Nonce Words
Nonce words are new words formed through any number of word formation processes with the
resulting word meeting a lexical need that is not expected to recur. Nonce words are created for the
nonce, the term for the nonce meaning "for a single occasion." For example, the follow list of words
provides some nonce words with definitions as identified in the Oxford English Dictionary.
cotton-wool to stuff or close (the ears) with cotton-wool.
jabberwock The name of the fabulous monster in Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky.
Hence in allusive and extended uses, especially "incoherent or nonsensical expression." So
jabberwocky is invented language, meaningless language, nonsensical behavior; also nonsensical,
meaningless, topsy-turvy.
touch-me-not-ishness having a "touch-me-not" character; stand-off-ish.
twi-thought an indistinct or vague thought.
witchcraftical The practices of a witch or witches; the exercise of supernatural power
supposed to be possessed by persons in league with the devil or evil spirits. Power or influence like
that of a magician; bewitching or fascinating attraction or charm.
Note that although most nonce words come in and out of use very quickly, some nonce words catch on
and become everyday words. For example, Lewis Carroll coined the word chortle,
a blend of chuckle and snort, for the poem Jabberwocky in the book Through the Looking-Glass and
 What Alice Found There; unlike most nonce words, however, chortle has gained acceptance as a
legitimate blended word.

Borrowing
Borrowing is the word formation process in which a word from one language is borrowed directly into
another language. For example, the following common English words are borrowed from foreign
languages:
algebra Arabic
bagel Yiddish
cherub Hebrew
chow mein Chinese
fjord Norwegian
galore Irish
haiku Japanese
kielbasa Polish
murder French
near Sanskrit
paprika Hungarian
pizza Italian
smorgasbord Swedish
tamale Spanish
yo-yo Tagalog
Borrowed words are also referred to as loanwords.

Calquing
Calquing is the word formation process in which a borrowed word or phrase is translated from one
language to another. For example, the following common English words are calqued from foreign
languages:

beer garden German Biergarten

blue-blood Spanish sangre azul
commonplace Latin locus commnis
flea market French march aux puces
free verse French vers libre
loanword German Lehnwort
long time no see Chinese ho ji bu jin
pineapple Dutch pijnappel
scapegoat Hebrew ez ozel
wisdom tooth Latin dns sapientiae
Calques are also referred to as root-for-root or word-for-word translations.
 Word Formation: Coinages, Nonce Words, Borrowing, and
Calquing
written by: Heather Marie Kosur edited by: Tricia Goss updated: 1/17/2012

Creating new words in English, covers the related word formation processes of coinages, nonce words,
borrowing, and calquing.

Coinages
Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or
accidentally without using the other word formation processes and often from seemingly nothing. For
example, the following list of words provides some common coinages found in everyday English:
aspirin
escalator
heroin
band-aid
factoid
Frisbee
Google
kerosene
Kleenex
Laundromat
linoleum
muggle
nylon
psychedelic
quark
Xerox
zipper
Notice that many coinages start out as brand names for everyday items such as Kleenex for a facial
tissue. Coinages are also referred to simply as neologisms, the word neologism meaning "new word."

Nonce Words
Nonce words are new words formed through any number of word formation processes with the
resulting word meeting a lexical need that is not expected to recur. Nonce words are created for the
nonce, the term for the nonce meaning "for a single occasion." For example, the follow list of words
provides some nonce words with definitions as identified in the Oxford English Dictionary.
cotton-wool to stuff or close (the ears) with cotton-wool.
jabberwock The name of the fabulous monster in Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky.
Hence in allusive and extended uses, especially "incoherent or nonsensical expression." So
jabberwocky is invented language, meaningless language, nonsensical behavior; also nonsensical,
meaningless, topsy-turvy.
touch-me-not-ishness having a "touch-me-not" character; stand-off-ish.
twi-thought an indistinct or vague thought.
witchcraftical The practices of a witch or witches; the exercise of supernatural power
supposed to be possessed by persons in league with the devil or evil spirits. Power or influence like
that of a magician; bewitching or fascinating attraction or charm.
 Note that although most nonce words come in and out of use very quickly, some nonce words catch on
and become everyday words. For example, Lewis Carroll coined the word chortle,
a blend of chuckle and snort, for the poem Jabberwocky in the book Through the Looking-Glass and
What Alice Found There; unlike most nonce words, however, chortle has gained acceptance as a
legitimate blended word.

Borrowing
Borrowing is the word formation process in which a word from one language is borrowed directly into
another language. For example, the following common English words are borrowed from foreign
languages:
algebra Arabic
bagel Yiddish
cherub Hebrew
chow mein Chinese
fjord Norwegian
galore Irish
haiku Japanese
kielbasa Polish
murder French
near Sanskrit
paprika Hungarian
pizza Italian
smorgasbord Swedish
tamale Spanish
yo-yo Tagalog
Borrowed words are also referred to as loanwords.

Calquing
Calquing is the word formation process in which a borrowed word or phrase is translated from one
language to another. For example, the following common English words are calqued from foreign
languages:

beer garden German Biergarten

blue-blood Spanish sangre azul
commonplace Latin locus commnis
flea market French march aux puces
free verse French vers libre
loanword German Lehnwort
long time no see Chinese ho ji bu jin
pineapple Dutch pijnappel
scapegoat Hebrew ez ozel
wisdom tooth Latin dns sapientiae
Calques are also referred to as root-for-root or word-for-word translations.
 Abbreviations and Acronyms for English Learners
Share
Pin
Email

Do you know what ml stands for?. GIPhotoStock / Getty Images

Languages

English as a Second Language

o Vocabulary
o Basics
o Pronunciation & Conversation
o Writing Skills
o Reading Comprehension
o Grammar
o Business English
o Resources for Teachers
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
English Grammar
by Kenneth Beare
Updated July 28, 2017

Any shortened form of a word or phrase is an abbreviation. Acronyms are also a type of
abbreviation that can be pronounced as a single word.

Abbreviations are selectively used in spoken conversation as well as written English.

Generally, common abbreviations such as measurements and titles are always
abbreviated in written form. However, days and months are commonly written out.
Online, abbreviations and acronyms are most common in texting, chat rooms and in
SMS.

In spoken English, we often use abbreviations in informal conversations. A good rule of

thumb is to use abbreviations and acronyms that you know others are familiar with, and
avoid them when they are too specific.

For example, if you are having a conversation with a business colleague it may be
appropriate to use abbreviations particular to your line of work. However, the use of
work-related abbreviations would be out of place if speaking with friends. Here is a
guide to some of the most common abbreviations.

TITLES

One of the most common types of abbreviations is the shortened word. Either the first
few letters of a word or important letters in the word are used for this type of
abbreviation. Common abbreviations include titles used in everyday conversation, as
well as military ranks:

Mr. - Mister

Mrs. - Mistress

Ms.

Dr. - Doctor

Jr. - Junior

Sr. - Senior

Capt. - Captain

Comdr. - Commander

Col. - Colonel

Gen. - General
 Hon. - the Honorable

Lt. - Lieutenant

Rev. - the Reverend

Other common abbreviations include:

MONTHS OF THE YEAR

Jan. - January

Feb. - February

Mar. - March

Apr. - April

Aug. - August

Sept. - September

Oct. - October

Nov. - November

Dec. - December

DAYS OF THE WEEK

Mon. - Monday

Tues. - Tuesday

Wed. - Wednesday

Thurs. - Thursday

Fri. - Friday

Sat. - Saturday

Sun. - Sunday

WEIGHT AND VOLUME

gal. - gallon
 lb - pound

oz - ounce

pt - pint

qt - quart

wt. - weight

vol. - volume

TIME

hr - hour

min - minute

sec - second

LENGTH - US/UK

in. - inch

ft - foot

mi - mile

yd - yard

MEASURES IN METRICS

kg - kilogram

km - kilometer

m - meter

mg - milligram

mm - millimeter

INITIAL LETTER ABBREVIATIONS

Initial letter abbreviations take the first letter of each important word in a short phrase
to make up the abbreviation. Prepositions are usually left out of initial letter
abbreviations. One of the most common initial letter abbreviations is the USA - United
States of America. Notice how the preposition 'of' is left out of this abbreviation.

Other common initial letter abbreviations include:

DIRECTIONS

N - North

S - South

E - East

W - West

NE - Northeast

NW - Northwest

SE - Southeast

SW - Southwest

IMPORTANT INSTITUTIONS

BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation

EU - European Union

IRS - Internal Revenue Service

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

WHO - World Health Organization

TYPES OF MEASUREMENT

MPH - Miles per hour

RPM - Revolutions per minute

Btu - British thermal units

 F - Fahrenheit

C - Celsius

SMS, TEXTING, CHAT

Many abbreviations are used online and in our daily lives with smartphones, chat
rooms, etc. Here are a few, but follow the links for a complete list in alphabetical order.

B4N - Bye for now

ASAP - As soon as possible

NP - No problem

TIC - Tongue in cheek

WHAT ARE ACRONYMS?

Acronyms are initial letter abbreviations that are pronounced as one word. To take the
examples from above, the BBC is NOT an acronym because it is pronounced as it is
spelled: the B - B - C. However, NATO is an acronym because it is pronounced as one
word. ASAP is another acronym, but ATM is not.

TIPS FOR USING ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Use abbreviations when texting by learning common texting abbreviations

Use acronyms as a mnemonic device to help you learn a wider range of vocabulary. In
other words, take a list of words you want to learn and memorize the first letters of each
word you want to learn. For example: Primary Colors: RBY--red , blue , yellow

Use abbreviations when writing quick emails in an informal voice

Do not use abbreviations or when writing formal emails, reports or letters except for
common organization names

For more uncommon acronyms, use the entire name followed by the acronym in
parentheses the first time you use the acronym in written communications. For
example: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is responsible for loaning money to
nations. As the world experiences more economic difficulties, the role of the IMF is
often called into question.

https://www.thoughtco.com/abbreviations-and-acronyms-for-english-learners-1212308
 Initialism

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

Share
Pin
Email

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is an example of an initialism. BBC

Languages

English Grammar
o Glossary of Key Terms
o Using Words Correctly
o Writing Tips & Advice
o Sentence Structures
o Rhetoric & Style
o Punctuation & Mechanics
o Developing Effective Paragraphs
o Developing Effective Essays
English as a Second Language
 Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Mandarin
by Richard Nordquist

Updated April 04, 2017

An initialism is an abbreviation that consists of the first letter or letters of words in a

phrase, such as EU (for European Union) and NFL (for National Football League). Also
called an alphabetism.

Initialisms are usually shown in capital letters, without spaces or periods between
them. Unlike acronyms, initialisms are not spoken as words; they are spoken letter by
letter.

EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS

ABC (American Broadcasting Company, Australian Broadcasting

Corporation), ATM (Automatic Teller Machine), BBC (British Broadcasting
Corporation), CBC(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), CNN (Cable News
Network), DVD(Digital Versatile Disc), HTML (HyperText Markup
Language), IBM(International Business Machines Corporation), NBC (National
Broadcasting Company)

Some names that began as initialisms have evolved into brands independent of their
original meanings. For example, CBS, the American radio and television network, was
created in 1928 as the Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1974, the name of the company
was legally changed to CBS, Inc., and in the late 1990s it became CBS Corporation.

Similarly, the letters in the names SAT and ACT no longer represent anything. Originally
known as the Scholastic Achievement Test, the SAT became an Aptitude Test in 1941 and
an Assessment Test in 1990. Finally, in 1994, the name was officially changed to SAT (or,
in full, SAT Reasoning Test), with the letters signifying nothing. Two years later,
American College Testing followed suit and changed the name of its test to ACT.

INITIALISMS AND ACRONYMS

"My favorite current acronym is the DUMP, a term universally used in Durham, New
Hampshire to refer to a local supermarket with the unwittingly unfortunate name 'the
Durham Market Place.'

"Initialisms are similar to acronyms in that they are composed from the first letters of
a phrase, but unlike acronyms, they are pronounced as a series of letters.
So most people in the US refer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the FBI . . ..
Other initialisms are PTA for Parent Teacher Association, PR for either 'public relations'
or 'personal record,' and NCAA for National College Athletic Association."
(Rochelle Lieber, Introducing Morphology. Cambridge University Press, 2010)

"[S]ometimes a letter in an initialism is formed not, as the term might imply, from an
initial letter but rather from an initial sound (as the X in XML, for extensible markup
language), or from the application of a number (W3C, for World Wide Web
Consortium). Furthermore, an acronym and an initialism are occasionally combined
(JPEG), and the line between initialism and acronym is not always clear (FAQ, which
can be pronounced either as a word or as a series of letters)."
(The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. The University of Chicago Press, 2010)

CD-ROM

"CD-ROM is an interesting mix, because it brings together an initialism (CD) and an

acronym (ROM). The first part is sounded letter by letter, the second part is a whole
word."
(David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words. St. Martin's Press, 2012)

USAGE

"The first time an acronym or initialism appears in a written work, write the complete
term, followed by an abbreviated form in parentheses. Thereafter, you may use the
acronym or initialism alone."
(G. J. Alred, C. T. Brusaw, and W. E. Oliu, Handbook of Technical Writing, 6th ed.
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000

AWOL

"In AWOL--All Wrong Old Laddiebuck, an animated film by Charles Bowers, a woman
presents her calling card to a soldier and it reads 'Miss Awol.' She then lures him away
from camp without permission.

The film is silent, of course, given the 1919 date, but the calling card indicates
that AWOL is pronounced as a word, making it a true acronym and not just
an initialism."
(David Wilton and Ivan Brunetti, Word Myths. Oxford University Press, 2004)

Pronunciation: i-NISH-i-liz-em

Etymology
From the Latin, "beginning"

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-initialism-p2-1691172