As promised from my June post, this month is more about acronyms (when the first letters of words are combined to become a new “expression”). I decline to call the result a ‘word,’ but that may be my old-fashioned-ness getting in the way 😏. My friend, Stewart, claims that the U.S. military uses more acronyms than any other organization.
On the other hand (or OTOH, in keeping with the theme), the business folks I have talked to over the years have told me about a LOT of acronyms, so maybe there is a competition going on! P.S. Thank you to Laney for her multiple contributions (maybe I should be concerned about the bio-engineering industry?)
Here are some examples (with my comments). Feel free to shake your head at the “lingo” used by the world’s businesses.
- CLO = Chief Learning Officer
- CSO = Chief Staff Officer OR Chief Scientific Officer
- KR = Kind Regards (“But idk if that is only a corporate-world thing” – the person who submitted this acronym added the comment – spot on, I’d say!)
- KPI = Key Performance Indicator
- KOL = Key Opinion Leader (I’m not quite sure what this person is or does – have more opinions than anyone else in the department???)
- IDC = Innovation Decision Committee (Who wouldn’t want to be on THIS committee??)
- CSM = Commercial Strategy Manager
- COG = Cost Of Goods
- PDP = Product Design Process OR Personal Development Plan
- NPD = New Product Development
- D = Decision (as in, “Who has the D?”)
- DL = Distribution List (This is an old one. Heck, this acronym was used when I was working . . . )
My feeble contribution is from a crossword puzzle – the clue was PC. In today’s world, I thought of Politically Correct, but the correct answer was Personal Computer. How quickly lingo changes!!
Comment below with some of your ‘favorite’ acronyms and I’ll include them in a future post – without the answers so you all can guess 😕🤓!
Naturally, the first ones that come to mind for me are real estate- and title insurance-related. POA =Power of Attorney
ROFR = Right of First Refusal
HOA = Homeowner’s Association
There is also:
POD = Payable on Death
SSN = Social Security Number
EBITA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization
EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
GAAP = Generally-Accepted Accounting Principals
GAAS = Generally-Accepted Accounting Standards
MRI = Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MIA = Missing in Action
AWOL = Absent Without Leave
LASER = Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation*
SONAR = Sound Navigation and Ranging*
SCUBA = Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus*
*These have obviously become so popular that we do not even bother to capitalize each letter anymore.
And there goes my lunch break… LOL!
You may be the winner for coming up with so many acronyms, Laura! I admit I didn’t know where the “word” laser came from – thanks for that information!!
I still have a little bit of science geek left in me after so many years of the law. 😉
One I’ll be following in my future with knee replacement is ROM.
PDP in project engineering world is Project Definition (or Development) Process (or Phases). There are 5 or 6 phases depending on whether you separate procurement from construction phase. TMI?
Billy, your mention of ROM in the medical aspect reminded me of ROM in the comping world. ROM = read-only memory. RAM = random access memory.
Okay, Billy B, I give up. What does ROM mean for knee replacement?
PDP for engineers – I love it. Especially the TMI reference! 😂
I agree with Laura that I first thought of ROM having to do with CDs. Hmm . . . CD meaning Certificate of Deposit or Compact Disc? Which made me think of LPs (long playing records). And, of course, many laws are referred to by their first letters (e.g. RESPA). Will this never end???
WHICH prompts me to ask – none of you questioned me about using Acronyms for my blog title when I should have said Abbreviations. After all, most of my examples were not first letters turned into another word, just first letters used to reference the longer words.
Next month is a bunch of combined words! More fun ahead! Send your examples to be included! (hint: “brunch”) 😏
Range of Motion
Apparently I’ll need to get to 135 degrees. Sounds painful!?
Funny you mentioned LP. I just had a discussion with a relative of yours, BB, who sometimes releases songs to Spotify with the group Burkish (shameless plug).
We talked about the differences between EP and LP. Actually, never did come up with the definition …. Especially with electronic releases. No more B side.
I remember that EPs (Extended Play, e.g. a long single) fell out of favor because we didn’t have a lot of turntables that were able to play them. I was going to say something about turntables being old fashioned, but I’ve read that turntables and analog “albums” are coming back into style! A little sad about no more B side with electronic releases, though. Sometimes those songs became more famous than the A side!
Burkish – I’ll check them out!! 😊😉