Common Acronyms: Do You Know What They Stand For?

Do you know what an acronym is? It's a word made by taking the first letter of each word in a phrase. For example, NOW is the National Organization of Women.

Obviously, acronyms are popular because they are an efficient way to say a lot. That is, if the person you're talking to knows the acronyms you're using. If the person you're trying to communicate with doesn't know the acronyms you're using, you will be considered annoying.

They're used in jargon

Different industries have their own sets of acronyms and new employees are often lost in conversations that are awash with them. When I worked for a major electronics company, we had lots of three-letter acronyms, such as ESD (electro-static discharge). We had so many, we referred to them as TLAs (three-letter acronyms).

They spin off new words

A phenomenon that often occurs when an acronym becomes entrenched as a word is that new words are spun off from it. For instance, LASER has become the noun, laser. Its new cousin is the word "lase," which means to use a laser.

They become words themselves

Some acronyms are used by so many people that they become a part of the language. When this happens, it's common for people to become so comfortable with using the acronym as a word that they forget what it originally stood for.

Do you say it twice?

Sometimes when people don't know what the former-acronym now-word they're using means, they speak redundantly without knowing it. For instance, if you say "PIN number," you're being redundant because PIN stands for "personal identification number." So you're really saying, "personal identification number number."

How many of these do you know?

For how many of the following acronyms do you know the original phrase represented? (Answers below.)

AIDS
FEMA
FUBAR
JPEG
LASER
LCD
LED
NASA
NATO
OPEC
PhD
RADAR
ROYGBIV
RSVP
SCUBA
SNAFU
SONAR
SWAT
VIN
YMCA

Answers:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition (polite form)
Joint Photographic Experts Group
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
Liquid Crystal Display
Light Emitting Diode
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Philosophiae Doctor (Doctor of Philosophy)
Radio Detection and Ranging
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet (colors of the spectrum)
Répondez S'il Vous Plaît (French: Please Reply; commonly seen on invitations)
Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
Situation Normal All Fouled Up (polite form)
Sound Navigation and Ranging
Special Weapons and Tactics
Vehicle Identification Number
Young Men's Christian Association