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Tag: initialisms

Redundonyms: Why It’s WRONG To Say “ATM Machine” and “PIN Number”

Is redundonym a made-up word? The spell-check feature on my computer certainly seems to think so. But it’s a perfectly good word to describe redundant acronyms, plus it’s just super fun to say out loud (it bounces down your tongue Read more…


Indefinite Articles Before Acronyms: Is It “A URL” or “AN URL”?

Is it “a LED display” or “an LED display”? And would you say “a URL” or “an URL”? Choosing between a or an is one of those grammatical things that native English speakers might have an instinct for, but it’s Read more…


Do Acronyms Need Periods?

Is it FBI or F.B.I.? PhD or Ph.D.? And once we solve the question about periods or no periods, we still have spaces and capitalization to contend with. Let’s talk acronyms! What Is an Acronym? An acronym is a word Read more…


Words Like “FBI” Are Actually NOT Acronyms

Don’t panic! It’s true that words such as “FBI” and “TBA” are actually NOT acronyms at all, so you might be thinking that everything you’ve ever known is a lie (at least I did when I started learning about this). Read more…


17 Words You Never Knew Were Acronyms

Did you know that “snafu” is an acronym? What about “care package”? I bet there are at least a few words on this list that you never knew were acronyms! Quick Disclaimer: Acronyms vs. Initialisms Acronyms are words that are Read more…