What is the short form of a word called

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What’s the difference between abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms?

Learn how to shorten words to improve your English writing

Introduction 

We love to shorten everything in English. This is especially true in an age where texting has become the preferred way to communicate with one another. In writing, there are three common methods we can use to shorten words: abbreviations(1), acronyms(2), and initialisms(3). This blog will give you all the information you need to be able to read, write, and differentiate between them. 

Abbreviations 

Let’s face it, writing long words can be a nuisance(4), especially when you’re in a rush or need to write the same word multiple times. This is where abbreviations come in. Chances are, you’ve already seen many of these abbreviations before, but here are some of the most common abbreviations you are likely to come across. 

Days of the week: Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun. 

Months of the year: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Measurements: “cm” for centimeter, “mm” for millimeter, and “in” for inch. 

Titles: “Mr.” for mister, “Ms.” for miss, and “Mrs.” for mistress. 

Map Locations: “st.” for street, “Ave.” for avenue, “dr.” for drive, “blvd.” for boulevard and “ln.” for lane. 

Here are a few common abbreviations found in writing that tend to confuse people. 

i.e. stands for id est, which means, “in other words.” 

Ex. I love to eat western food, i.e., pizza and cheeseburgers. 

e.g. stands for “example given.” 

Ex. Tonight, we will explore some popular areas in Taipei, e.g, Taipei 101, Longshan Temple, and Daan Park. 

etc. stands for etcetera, which means, “and other things.” 

Ex. She bought way too much stuff at the department store. She walked out with shoes, a hat, pants, and a new blouse, etc. 

One thing to note about abbreviations is that they are informal. Most of the time,  they shouldn’t be used in academic, professional, or formal writing. Before you use these, just assess(5) whether or not abbreviations are appropriate for what you are writing, i.e. save them for your texts or personal notes rather than your Master’s thesis or C.V. 

Acronyms

People often confuse initialisms—which we will cover soon—and abbreviations for acronyms. Some dictionaries are making exceptions since so many people misuse these terms, but as far as acronyms go, they need to spell out another longer word or phrase while making a new word ( they often shorten the lengthy names of certain organizations). 

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One great example is NASA. You pronounce this word just as it’s spelled, and it was created to shorten the official name, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a name that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like NASA does. If the abbreviation doesn’t form a new word that is pronounced just as it’s written, it isn’t technically an acronym. Let’s look at some of the most common acronyms to better understand this concept.

scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus 

radar:  radio detection and ranging 

GIF: Graphics Interchange Format 

AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Program 

TED (talk): tell me, explain to me, describe to me

CAPTCHA: Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

Yahoo: yet another hierarchical officious oracle

ZIP: Zone Improvement Plan 

IKEA: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd

CD-ROM: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory 

Initialisms 

Some people will claim that initialisms are acronyms, but that is debatable(6). Words like NBA and VIP are initialisms: There is no way to pronounce the letters like a typical word, but we instead pronounce each letter sound separately. 

There are some examples that can be classified as both acronyms or initialisms. Think about the word ASAP. You can pronounce this phonetically as one word or say each letter separately A-S-A-P. 

There are tons of initialisms, but here are a handful of common examples that everyone can recognize. 

IQ: intelligence quotient 

lol:  laugh out loud

UFO: unidentified flying object 

RSVP:  répondez s’il vous plaît (please respond)

TBA: to be announced 

OMG: oh my god

ETA: estimated time of arrival 

NBA – National Basketball Association 

VIP: very important person 

3D: three dimensional 

I will leave it open whether initialisms are a subset of acronyms, but it’s better to understand the subtle differences between abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms regardless. 

Conclusion 

Knowing how words are shortened in English text will make you a better reader and a more effective writer. Instead of getting hung up on definitions, learn what the most common abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms mean, and you will be well on your way to better understanding how words in English get shortened in text and writing. 

Vocabulary 

1. abbreviation (n.)

Def. a short form of a word, etc.

Ex. The abbreviation for Monday is Mon. 

2. acronym (n.)

Def. a word formed from the first letters of the words that make up the name of something. 

Ex. The acronym for “Graphics Interchange Format” is GIF. 

3. initialism (n.)

Def. ​a word formed from the first letters of the words that make up the name of something, with each letter pronounced separately

Ex. The initialism for “very important person” is VIP. 

nuisance (n.)

4. Def. a thing, person or situation that is annoying or causes trouble or problems

Ex. Mosquitos are such a nuisance during the summer. 

5. assess (v.)

Def. to make a judgement about the nature or quality of somebody/something

Ex. He assessed the hiking route, and it is just too dangerous to proceed until the snow melts. 

6. debatable (adj.)

Def. not certain because people can have different ideas and opinions about the thing being discussed

Ex. Whether or not the Earth was created by the Big Bang is debatable. 

Photos 

Omg-oh-my-god-texting-social-media by Wokandapix

January-calendar-month-year-day by Amber_Avalona

Fractal-mandelbulb-3d-ufo-invasion by cpmacdonald

Sources

https://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-an-abbreviation-and-an-acroynm.html

By Robby

If you are new here please read this first.

VOCAB – this is a short version of ‘vocabulary’ and while it’s not something you’ll be using on a very regular basis, it’s always good to know that you can say things like: “I want to build my English vocab” or “I just added another useful English phrase to my vocab!”

LIMO – short for ‘limousine’. Next time around when you see one, you can nudge your friend and tell him – “Hey man, look at that cool limo!”

CELEB – I’m pretty sure you knew this one, but I had to put it on the list to make it complete! It’s obviously short for ‘celebrity’ and I wouldn’t be surprised if 20 years down the line people wouldn’t remember the original word at all!

PIC – this is a very handy way of referring to a picture or a photograph. “Hold on a sec, I’ll take a pic and then we’re good to go!”

SEC – this is how you can shorten the word ‘second’. As a matter of fact, I used this word in the sample sentence above, and here’s a couple more sample phrases: “Wait a sec!” or “Be back in a sec!”

DECAF – this is a short version of ‘decaffeinated coffee’ and it will definitely come in handy when putting in an order in a coffee shop late in the evening – “I’d like a large decaf latte, please!”

DETOX – this is a popular word in terms of dieting, and it refers to detoxification whereby you get your body rid of all sorts of toxins. ‘A detox diet’, for example, is a diet consisting mostly of juices, fresh salads and veggies and helps you get much healthier within a matter of days!

VEGGIE – is a short for ‘vegetable’ and is used all the time when people talk about health and balanced nutrition – “I’m eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies, and I’m feeling simply amazing!”

CARBS – carbohydrates. To be honest with you, I think the word ‘carbs’ has become so popular in the food industry that we don’t even have to wait for 20 years before everyone forgets the original word ‘carbohydrates’.

BI’S – biceps. TRI’S – triceps. QUADS – quadriceps (front part of your upper legs) HAMS – hamstrings (back of your upper legs) PECS – pectorals (chest muscles). DELTS – deltoids (shoulders). ABS – abdominal muscles. This is how you refer to your different body parts when you’re in a gym, and not only! You can use these body part names whenever you mention the respective body parts in daily conversations, and you can rest assured that you’ll be understood.

REP – a quick way of referring to a ‘representative’. ‘Rep’ is widely used in all industries – sales rep, trade union rep – and if you’re a sales rep, for example, you may want to start calling yourself a ‘sales rep’ rather than ‘sales representative’.

REP – another meaning of this word is ‘repetition’. If you’re serious into fitness and exercising, you’ll definitely know this one because it’s become an industry standard. You go to gym, pick up a workout program and start performing sets or reps according to your level and preparation.

PREP – now, guess what this short form of a word means? Well – it means ‘prepare’ or ‘preparation’! Typical phrases to learn – “Have you prepped up?” or “I’m all prepped up, we’re good to go!”

LINO – maybe this one is going to sound too technical, but believe me – there are times when you have to describe floor types such as carpet, wooden floor and also linoleum which is the full word for ‘lino’. A typical situation would be renting a house, so you’d better add this word onto your active vocab!

RADS – radiators. This is another DIY term for you, and believe me – your home heating is another one of those things that will come up during your house hunting efforts! “Are these rads old or new?” – you should ask this question when you’re in doubt of the effectiveness of the heating elements if they’re really worn and old-looking.

DOC – this is a how you refer to a ‘doctor’. “I have to visit my doc today, can I have a couple of hours off?” would be the ideal way of asking for some time off at your work so that you can visit a doctor. “Hello doc, nice to see you, how are you?” this is how you’d greet your doctor upon arrival.

MEDS – ‘medications’. “Please don’t forget to take your meds in the morning!” or “Have you taken your meds today?” would be a typical way of making sure your friend, child or a sibling has taken proper care of themselves according to their doc’s recommendations!

CERT – this is a shortened form of ‘certificate’, and you’ll definitely get to use this word when going through the educational system or when attaining new qualifications for your professional life.

PRO – this is a very popular shortening of a word, and it’s quite self-explanatory. It means ‘professional’, and you can simply stick this three letter word in front of other words to indicate professional level of the trade, profession and occupation in question: pro-designer, pro-builder, pro-bodybuilder.

CONGRATS – this word is also very self-explanatory; it basically means ‘congratulations’ and can be used whenever you’re congratulating someone with some sort of an achievement. “Congrats on your promotion, well done my friend!”

VID – short for ‘video’. Typical phrases – “Check out this vid!” or “Can you e-mail me a link to that crazy vid you showed me last week?”

INFO – well, well, well, I’m a real smart-arse, am I not? Of course you knew that ‘info’ is short for ‘information’! I just had to put this word on the list though because word shortening related info wouldn’t be complete without the word ‘info’!

SIS – this is how you can call your little sister. Well, you can still call her “sis” even if she’s older than you, it’s really up to you!

BRO – and this is how you call your brother, and not only your birth-brother. Any close friend of yours deserves being referred to as “bro”, and here’s how you can greet your best friend on the way to college “Hey bro, wassup?”

MIL – is a short for ‘million’, and here’s the most commonly used phrase containing this word: “Thanks a mil!” It’s a fairly common way of thanking someone for a small favor or service, and you’ll sound so much more native-like if you start using this phrase yourself!

SYNC – this English word shortening stands for ‘synchronize’ or ‘synchronization’. “Let’s sync our watches!” – would be something you’d hear in films where a group of agents are splitting up before the operation.

PROBS – “No probs!” obviously means “No problems!” and it’s a typical way you would respond to some request. “Can you please lift this bag up onto that shelf, please?” would be best met with the following response: “No probs!”

Robby 😉

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!