Common Abbreviations and Shortcuts

Shortcut Classifications

Shortcuts fall into one of these distinct categories:

Acronyms - Short words that are formed from the initial letters of other word that are pronounced as a separate word such as NASA.

Initialisms- These are abbreviations formed from initial letters of words that are not pronounced as a word like DVD.

Lastly, we have abbreviations which are shortened words or phrases.

Here Are Some Common Shortcuts Examples That You My Not Know In Long Form:

AAA- American Automobile Association

AARP- American Association of Retired People

AM- Ante Meridiem

AT&T- American Telephone and Telegraph

A&W - The first letters of the 2 founders last names: Roy Allen and Frank Wright,

BMW- Bavarian Motor Works

CAV- Clean Air Vehicle

CD-ROM - Compact Disc -Read-Only Memory.

CAPTCHA- Completely Automated Public Turing Test

CVS- Consumer Value Stores & Convenience Value, Service

IBM – International Business Machines

IOS- Internet Operating System

GEICO- Stands for Government Employees Insurance Company

Google- Derived from the word Googol: 10 to the 100th power

HOV- High Occupancy Vehicle

ITALY- I trust and love you

LoA- Law of Attraction or Lines of Accounting

LASER- Light Amplification by Simulated emission of radiation.

M&M's – Mars and Murrie

MOU- Memorandum of Understanding

NASDAQ- National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations 

NERF- stands for Non-Expandable Recreational Foam

PDA- Public display of affection or Personal Digital Assistant

PM- Post Meridiem, Post-mortem or Prime Minister

RADAR- Radio Detection and Ranging

PBX- Private Branch Exchange

PSI- Pounds Per Square Iinch

SEALS (NAVY) Sea Air Land 

SONAR – Sound Navigation and Ranging

SIM CARD- Subscriber Identification Module

SMS- Short Message Service

SROA- State Restriction of Employment,

SWAT- Special Weapons and Tactics

TASER- Thomas A Swift Electric Riffle title of 1911 book by Victor Appleton

TANF- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

URL- Universal Resource Location

VOIP- Voice Over Internet Protocol

Volvo- Short for Volvokoncernen; last name of Aktiebolaget Volvokoncernen

WiFi- Wireless Fidelity

YAHOO- Stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Official Oracle

Zip Code – Zone Improvement Plan

Modern technology shortcuts are similar to shorthand with symbols like emoji's and syllable usage. instant message communication has been propelled to epic popularity among all ages. This has created the need for many of us to text through Short Message Service (SMS) for rapid means of communication. Instant messaging has a language of its own, here are a few examples:

BTW- By the way NNTR- No need to reply

FWIW- For what its worth POV- Point of view

HML- Hit my line or hate my life ROTFL- Rolling on the floor laughing

IMO - In my opinion WFM- Works for me

Lol-Laugh out loud TTYL-Talk to you later

WYWH- Wish you were here

Shortcuts are easy to remember and they simplify communication. This however, often negates the need to know the origins of full names titles and messages. It's nice to explore and know true meanings.