Anacronym is aword whoseletters are the first letters of other words. People often create a short acronym that means the same thing as a much longerphrase (set of words). This is faster and shorter to say than the long phrase.[source?]
- COBOL -COmmonBusinessOrientedLanguage
- LASER -LightAmplification throughStimulatedEmmission ofRadiation
- QUANGO -Quasi-autonomousnon-governmentalorganisation
- RADAR -RAdioDetectingAndRanging
- SARS -SevereAcuteRespiratorySyndrome
- SCUBA -Self-ContainedUnderwaterBreathingApparatus
- SNAFU -SituationNormal:AllFouledUp
An acronym usually must be able to be spoken as word. Other abbreviations such as ASAP[1] (assoonaspossible), USA[2] (theUnitedStates ofAmerica), ECU[3] (EuropeanCurrencyUnit), FBI[4] (FederalBureau ofInvestigation), NBA[5] (NationalBasketballAssociation) have combinations of letters that are not pronounced as a single word. People just say the letters, one after another.
These three-letter acronyms,[6] and some more obscure four-letter ones such asISDN are more often calledinitialisms. The word "acronym" comes from theGreekacro "extreme" andonymous "name".[source?]
The world's longest acronym, according to theGuinness Book of World Records is NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT (Russian:Нииомтплабопармбетжелбетрабсбомонимонконотдтехстромонт). It is 56 letters long (54 inCyrillic). It is from theConcise Dictionary of Soviet Terminology and means "theLaboratory for Shuttering, Reinforcement,Concrete and Ferroconcrete Operations for Composite-monolithic and Monolithic Constructions of theDepartment ofTechnology of Building Assembly Operations of the ScientificResearchInstitute of theOrganization for BuildingMechanization and Technical Aid of theAcademy ofBuilding andArchitecture of theUSSR."[7][8]
