A good many words we use today are in reality acronyms (words formed from the initial letters of other words) corporated into our language as real words. Although some acronyms are purposefully thought up, most are abbreviations of other names or descriptions. Some have now become so common, they are no longer recognized as acronyms. They may be individual letters or parts of words, and generally fall into the following categories:
- Initials pronounced as a word
- Non-initials pronounced as a word
- A mixture of initials and non-initials
- Pronounced as a word or letters depending on context
- A combination of letters and words
- Pronounced as letters
- Names of letter made into a shortcut
- Shortcuts made into names
- Multi-layered acronyms
- Recursive acronyms (abbreviation refers to itself)
- Pseudo-acronyms using letters for real words
- Redundant initialisms
The following are some of the most common and more recognizable acronyms used today:
AIDS: acquired immune deficiency…
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