ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations are shortened forms of a written word, phrase or name used in place of the whole, for example: ‘Dr.’ for Doctor, ‘Mr.’ for Mister, ‘gym’ for gymnastics, ‘Tim’ for Timothy, p.s. for post script. Abbreviations are found in almost every area of life.
Acronyms and initialisms are also abbreviations.
ACRONYMS
An acronym is created from the initial letters of a long name or phrase, and pronounced as a word, for example, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Since are acronyms are treated as words and pronounced as words, there are no full stops between the letters.
Examples of abbreviations:
| ABBREVIATIONS | MEANING |
| A.D. | Anno Domini |
| ad | advertisement |
| adj. | adjective |
| adv. | adverb |
| a.m. | ante meridiem (before noon) |
| app | application |
| B.C. | Before Christ |
| e.g. | exampli gratia (for example) |
| etc | etcetera (and other things; and so on) |
| flu | influenza (an illness) |
| i.e. | id est (that is) |
| in. | inch(es) |
| lb(s). | pound(s) (from the Roman ‘libra’) |
| n.b. | nota bene (note well; take notice) |
| oz | ounce(s) |
| pl. | plural |
| p.m. | post meridiem (after noon) |
| p.s. | post scriptum (written after) |
| p.t.o. | please turn over |
| rhino | rhinoceros |
| St. | Saint or Street |
Examples of acronyms:
| ACRONYMS | MEANING |
| AIDS | Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome |
| LASER | Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NASA | National Aeronautical and Space Administration |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NASA | National Aeronautical and Space Administration |
| OPEC | Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| PIN | Personal Identification Number |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| ROM | Read Only Memory |
| Radar | Radio detecting and ranging |
| Scuba | Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus |
| UNICEF | United Nations Children’s Fund |
| WASP | White Anglo Saxon Protestant |
| WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get |
