Acronym

==Historical and current use==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2015}}
Acronymy, like [[retronym]]y, is a linguistic process that has existed throughout history but for which there was little to no [[metalanguage|naming]], conscious attention, or [[linguistics|systematic analysis]] until relatively recent times. Like retronymy, it became much more common in the twentieth century than it had formerly been.

Ancient examples of acronymy (before the term "acronym" was invented) include the following:
* Acronyms were used in Rome before the Christian era. For example, the official name for the Roman Empire, and the Republic before it, was abbreviated as ''[[SPQR]]'' ({{lang|la|Senatus Populusque Romanus}}). Inscriptions dating from antiquity, both on stone and on coins, use many abbreviations and acronyms to save space and work. For example, [[Praenomen|Roman first names]], of which there was only a small set, were almost always abbreviated. Common terms were abbreviated too, such as writing just "F" for {{lang|la|filius}}, meaning "son", a very common part of memorial inscriptions mentioning people. Grammatical markers were abbreviated or left out entirely if they could be inferred from the rest of the text.
* So-called {{lang|la|[[nomina sacra]]}} ('sacred names') were used in many Greek biblical manuscripts. The common words God ({{lang|grc|Θεός}}), Jesus ({{lang|grc|Ιησούς}}), Christ ({{lang|grc|Χριστός}}), and some others, would be abbreviated by their first and last letters, marked with an overline. This was just one of many kinds of conventional scribal abbreviation, used to reduce the time-consuming workload of the scribe and save on valuable writing materials. The same convention is still commonly used in the inscriptions on religious [[icon]]s and the stamps used to mark the eucharistic bread in [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Churches]].
* The early Christians in Rome, most of whom were Greek rather than Latin speakers, used the image of a fish as a symbol for [[Jesus]] in part because of an acronym (or [[backronym]]): 'fish' in Greek is {{transliteration|grc|[[ichthys]]}} ({{lang|grc|ΙΧΘΥΣ}}), which was construed to stand for {{lang|grc|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ}}}} ({{transliteration|grc|Iesous Christos Theou huios Soter}}: 'Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior'). This interpretation dates from the second and third centuries and is preserved in the [[catacombs]] of Rome. Another ancient acronym for Jesus is the inscription ''[[INRI]]'' over the crucifix, for the Latin {{lang|la|Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum}} ('Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews').
* The Hebrew language has a centuries-long history of acronyms pronounced as words. The [[Hebrew Bible]] is known as {{lang|he-Latn|Tanakh}}, an acronym composed from the Hebrew initial letters of its three major sections: {{lang|he-Latn|[[Torah]]}} (five books of Moses), {{lang|he-Latn|[[Nevi'im]]}} (prophets), and {{lang|he-Latn|[[K'tuvim]]}} (writings). Many [[rabbi]]nical figures from the Middle Ages onward are referred to in rabbinical literature by their pronounced acronyms, such as [[Maimonides|Rambam]] and [[Rashi]] from the initial letters of their full Hebrew names: {{lang|he-Latn|Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon}} and {{lang|he-Latn|Rabbi Shlomo Yitzkhaki}}.

During the mid- to late nineteenth century, acronyms became a trend among American and European businessmen: abbreviating [[corporation]] names, such as on the sides of [[railroad car]]s (e.g., "Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad" → "RF&P"); on the sides of barrels and crates; and on [[ticker tape]] and newspaper stock listings (e.g. American Telephone and Telegraph Company → AT&T). Some well-known commercial examples dating from the 1890s through 1920s include "[[Nabisco]]" ("National Biscuit Company"),<ref name="Davenport">{{cite journal |first=Basil |last=Davenport |title=Initials into Words |journal=[[American Notes and Queries]] |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.157029 |via=Internet Archive |date=February 1943 |volume=2 |page=167 |quote=Your correspondent who asks about words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words may be interested in knowing that I have seen such words called by the name ''acronym'', which is useful and clear to anyone who knows a little Greek.}}</ref> "[[Esso]]" (from "S.O.", from "[[Standard Oil]]"), and "[[Sunoco]]" ("Sun Oil Company").

Another field for the adoption of acronyms was modern warfare, with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms dating from the [[American Civil War]] (acronyms such as "ANV" for "[[Army of Northern Virginia]]" post-date the war itself), they became somewhat common in [[World War I]], and by [[World War II]] they were widespread even in the slang of soldiers,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.etymonline.com/baloney.php |title=Baloney |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |first=Douglas |last=Harper |access-date=August 31, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220417143143/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.asp |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> who referred to themselves as [[G.I. (military)|G.I.]]s.

The widespread, frequent use of acronyms across the whole range of linguistic [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] is relatively new in most languages, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-twentieth century. As literacy spread and technology produced a constant stream of new and complex terms, abbreviations became increasingly convenient. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (''OED'') records the first printed use of the word ''initialism'' as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after ''acronym'' had become common.

In English, acronyms {{em|pronounced as words}} may be a twentieth-century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in ''Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends'' claims that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century [English] word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is ''colinderies'' or ''colinda'', an acronym for the [[Colonial and Indian Exposition]] held in London in that year."<ref name="Wilton">{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/wordmythsdebunki00wilt_0 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/wordmythsdebunki00wilt_0/page/79 79] |quote=Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. |title=Word myths: debunking linguistic urban legends |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |last=Wilton |first=David |access-date=September 16, 2010 |isbn=978-0-19-517284-3 |date=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/acronyms.asp |title=Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Acronyms) |publisher=Snopes.com |access-date=September 16, 2010}}</ref> However, although acronymic words seem not to have been {{em|employed in general vocabulary}} before the twentieth century (as Wilton points out), the {{em|concept of their formation}} is treated as effortlessly understood (and evidently not novel) in an [[Edgar Allan Poe]] story of the 1830s, "[[How to Write a Blackwood Article]]", which includes the contrived acronym "P.R.E.T.T.Y.B.L.U.E.B.A.T.C.H."

===Early examples in English===
The use of Latin and Neo-Latin terms in [[vernacular]]s has been pan-European and pre-dates modern English. Some examples of acronyms in this class are:

*''[[12-hour clock|A.M.]]'' (from Latin {{lang|la|ante meridiem}}, 'before noon') and ''[[12-hour clock|P.M.]]'' (from Latin {{lang|la|post meridiem}}, 'after noon')
*''A.D.'' (from Latin {{lang|la|[[Anno Domini]]}}, 'in the year of our Lord'), whose complement in English, ''B.C.'' ([[Before Christ]]), is English-sourced

The earliest example of a word derived from an acronym listed by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]]'' is "abjud" (now "[[abjad]]"), formed from the original first four letters of the [[Arabic alphabet]] in the late eighteenth century.<ref>{{citation |contribution=abjad, ''n.'' |contribution-url= http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/271930 |title=Oxford English Dictionary}}.</ref> Some [[acrostics]] pre-date this, however, such as the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] witticism arranging the names of some members of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]'s Committee for Foreign Affairs to produce the [[Cabal ministry|"CABAL" ministry]].<ref>{{citation |contribution=cabal, ''n.'' |contribution-url= http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/25693 |title=Oxford English Dictionary}}.</ref>

''[[Okay|OK]]'', a term of disputed origin, dates back at least to the early nineteenth century and is now used around the world.

===Current use===
Acronyms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The [[Military|armed forces]] and government agencies frequently employ acronyms; some well-known examples from the United States are among the "[[alphabet agencies]]" (jokingly referred to as "[[Alphabet soup (linguistics)|alphabet soup]]") created under the [[New Deal]] by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (himself known as "FDR"). Business and industry also coin acronyms prolifically. The rapid advance of science and technology also drives the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more pronounceable names.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} One representative example, from the U.S. Navy, is "COMCRUDESPAC", which stands for "commander, cruisers destroyers Pacific"; it is also seen as "ComCruDesPac". Inventors are encouraged to anticipate the formation of acronyms by making new terms "YABA-compatible" ("yet another bloody acronym"), meaning the term's acronym can be pronounced and is not an offensive word: "When choosing a new name, be sure it is 'YABA-compatible'."<ref>K. D. Nilsen & A. P. Nilsen (1995) ''The English Journal'' Vol. 84, No. 6., "Literary Metaphors and Other Linguistic Innovations in Computer Language"</ref>

Acronym use has been further popularized by text messaging on mobile phones with [[short message service]] (SMS), and [[instant messenger]] (IM). To fit messages into the 160-character SMS limit, and to save time, acronyms such as "GF" ("girlfriend"), "LOL" ("laughing out loud"), and "DL" ("download" or "down low") have become popular.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |title=[[Txtng: The Gr8 Db8]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-954490-5}}</ref> Some [[Linguistic prescription|prescriptivist]]s disdain texting acronyms and abbreviations as decreasing clarity, or as failure to use "pure" or "proper" English. Others point out that languages have always [[language change|continually changed]], and argue that acronyms should be embraced as inevitable, or as innovation that adapts the language to changing circumstances. In this view, the modern practice is just the "proper" English of the current generation of speakers, much like the earlier abbreviation of corporation names on ticker tape or newspapers.

Exact pronunciation of "word acronyms" (those pronounced as words rather than sounded out as individual letters) often vary by speaker population. These may be regional, occupational, or generational differences, or simply personal preference. For instance, there have been decades of online debate about how to pronounce [[GIF]] ({{IPAc-en|g|ɪ|f}} or {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|f}}) and [[BIOS]] ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|oʊ|s}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|oʊ|z}}, or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|ɒ|s}}). Similarly, some letter-by-letter initialisms may become word acronyms over time, especially in combining forms: ''IP'' for ''[[Internet Protocol]]'' is generally said as two letters, but ''[[IPsec]]'' for ''Internet Protocol Security'' is usually pronounced as {{IPAc-en|ˌ|aɪ|ˈ|p|i:|s|ɛ|k}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|p|s|ɛ|k}}, along with variant capitalization like "IPSEC" and "Ipsec". Pronunciation may even vary within a single speaker's vocabulary, depending on narrow contexts. As an example, the database programming language [[SQL]] is usually said as three letters, but in reference to [[Microsoft SQL Server|Microsoft's implementation]] is traditionally pronounced like the word ''[[sequel]]''.

====Expansion at first use====
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2015}}
In writing for a broad audience, the words of an acronym are typically written out in full at its first occurrence within a given text. Expansion At First Use (EAFU) benefits readers unfamiliar with the acronym.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Chelsea |title=An Abbreviations FAQ |url= https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2015/10/an-abbreviations-faq.html#Q2 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200603074708/https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2015/10/an-abbreviations-faq.html#Q2 |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Another text aid is an abbreviation key which lists and expands all acronyms used, a reference for readers who skipped past the first use. (This is especially important for paper media, where no search utility is available to find the first use.) It also gives students a convenient review list to memorize the important acronyms introduced in a textbook chapter.

Expansion at first use and abbreviation keys originated in the print era, but they are equally useful for [[E-text|electronic text]].

====Jargon====
While acronyms provide convenience and succinctness for specialists, they often degenerate into confusing [[jargon]]. This may be intentional, to exclude readers without domain-specific knowledge. New acronyms may also confuse when they coincide with an already existing acronym having a different meaning.

Medical literature has been struggling to control the proliferation of acronyms, including efforts by the American Academy of Dermatology.<ref name="PMID19150279">{{Cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=C. B. |last2=Rashid |first2=R. M. |title=Averting the proliferation of acronymophilia in dermatology: effectively avoiding ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=340–344 |date=February 2009 |pmid=19150279 |doi=10.1016/j.jaad.2008.10.035}}</ref>

====As mnemonics====
Acronyms are often taught as [[mnemonic]] devices: for example the colors of the rainbow are [[ROY G. BIV]] (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). They are also used as mental checklists: in aviation [[GUMPS]] stands for gas-undercarriage-mixture-propeller-seat belts. Other mnemonic acronyms include [[CAN SLIM]] in finance, PAVPANIC in English grammar, and [[PEMDAS]] in mathematics.

====Acronyms as legendary etymology====
{{See also|Backronym}}
It is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of [[false etymology]], called a [[folk etymology]], for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in [[historical linguistics]], and are examples of language-related [[urban legend]]s. For example, "[[Police officer|cop]]" is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol",<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp |title=Does Cop = 'Constable on Patrol'? |date=May 3, 2007}}</ref> and "[[Posh (nautical term)|posh]]" from "[[port outward, starboard home]]".<ref name="posh">{{Cite book |title=Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths |publisher=Penguin Books |last=Quinion |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Quinion |isbn=978-0-14-101223-0 |date=2005}}; published in the US as {{Cite book |title=Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds |last=Quinion |first=Michael |date=2006 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-085153-8 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/ballyhoobuckaroo0000quin_z4e2 |via=Internet Archive |access-date=March 4, 2020}}</ref> With some of these specious expansions, the "belief" that the etymology is acronymic has clearly been [[tongue-in-cheek]] among many citers, as with "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" for "[[golf]]", although many other (more [[wikt:credulous|credulous]]) people have uncritically taken it for fact.<ref name="posh" /><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp |title=See article at Snopes |date=February 20, 2002 |publisher=Snopes.com |access-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220506042707/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Taboo word]]s in particular commonly have such false etymologies: "[[shit]]" from "ship/store high in transit"<ref name="Wilton" /><ref name="etymonline.com2">{{cite web |url= http://www.etymonline.com/baloney.php |title=Etymonline.com |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220417143143/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.asp |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> or "special high-intensity training" and "[[fuck]]" from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent/command of the king".<ref name="etymonline.com2" />