What’s up, shorty? - Acronyms and Abbreviations
Aug 4th, 2008 | By John Roach | Category: GrammarWhat is an acronym?
Acronyms are a simple topic: They are words formed by taking the first letter of a multi-word term. Hence, Federal Bureau of Investigation becomes FBI.
(Technically speaking, an acronym is one that can be pronounced — e.g., NASA — while an unpronounceable abbreviation is termed an initialism — e.g., the aforementioned FBI.)
How are acronyms spelled?
Acronyms take two forms: As a stand-in for a longer name, such as National Aeronautic and Space Administration —> NASA; or for phrases, as in also known as —> a.k.a.
Generally speaking, a proper noun, such as NASA, FBI, HIV or NAFTA, are capitalized and take no periods. Acronyms derived from phrases, a.k.a., e.g., i.e., are lowercase and take periods. Neither form takes spaces in between the letters. A. K. A. is right out.
What about acronyms and verb agreement?
Simple: Acronyms take singular verbs in American English. “NASA has scheduled the launch for Tuesday.” “The FBI is investigating all leads in the case.” This is because, in most cases, acronyms are organizations, and organizations are considered a single entity.
I will not speak to British English’s usage, because I am an American English speaker, and British English is a foreign freaking language.
How do I use acronyms?
When using acronyms, spell it out on first reference, then use the abbreviation from there on out.
Here’s where styles differ. Some styles set off the abbreviate by commas immediately upon first reference:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, previously underreported the rate of HIV infections in America.
The CDC apologized for the error.
Chicago style
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously underreported the rate of HIV infections in America.
The CDC apologized for the error.
Still other styles, AP in particular, do not use the acronym in the first reference at all. If it is not immediately clear that the acronym refers to the spelled-out name on first reference, do not use it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously underreported the rate of HIV infections in America.
The CDC apologized for the error.
As always, check your style guide. If your organization does not have a style guide (shudder), stick with Chicago and you can’t go wrong.
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This article was written by John Roach http://prowritingtips.com John is a writer and copy editor. You can follow him on twitter at @johnwroachiii. To see more posts click here |
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