ICYMI (in case you missed it), acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms are ways to shorten phrases and ideas both in normal speech and through texting and email. But a common FAQ (frequently asked ...

I read with some amusement the letter from John Neumeyer regarding the use of acronyms in the literature without identifying their meaning (C&EN, March 30, page 2). I used to believe that any ...

Initially, I didn't think I could say a lot about acronyms. I was wrong. An acronym uses the first letters of a few words to form a new word. The purpose is to shorten a long string of words to one ...

If an abbreviation formed from the first letters of several words is pronounced as one word, it's an acronym. Gif, laser and snafu are examples. If such an abbreviation is known by its letters, it's ...

I often remove unwieldy acronyms from articles I'm editing. The writer might assume that all readers know that acronym, but that often isn't so. Webster's New World College Dictionary defines an ...

We’ve been a little self-indulgent and playful during the holiday season, but readers are calling us back to business. Here’s one: For many years I have had anxiety about the plurals of acronyms and ...

Are you confused with Internet language? Did you know ‘SMH’, for example, has been so pervasive, it has managed to cement its place in the online Oxford dictionary. The company analysed the number of ...

Initially, I didn't think I could say a lot about acronyms. I was wrong. An acronym uses the first letters of a few words to form a new word. The purpose is to shorten a long string of words to one ...