{"id":4030,"date":"2013-06-27T16:58:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T16:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=4030"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:02:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:02:02","slug":"abbreviations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/abbreviations\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbreviations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_lKffa2CvDsU\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_lKffa2CvDsU\" data-source-videoID=\"lKffa2CvDsU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Abbreviations Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Abbreviations\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_lKffa2CvDsU:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_lKffa2CvDsU {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/153-when-to-abbreviate-1.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_lKffa2CvDsU\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_lKffa2CvDsU\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Abbreviations\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_lKffa2CvDsU\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_lKffa2CvDsU\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_lKffa2CvDsU\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction ZVg_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"ZVg\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"ZVg_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"ZVg\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#What_is_an_Abbreviation\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">What is an Abbreviation?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Acronym_vs_Initialism\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Acronym vs. Initialism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Contractions\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Contractions<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Generic_Abbreviations\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Generic Abbreviations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Anacronyms\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Anacronyms<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>Hello! In this video I\u2019ll walk you through some different types of abbreviations and when to use them.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"What_is_an_Abbreviation\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is an Abbreviation?<\/h2>\n<p>\nAn abbreviation is simply a shortened form of a <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/word-usage\/\">word<\/a> or phrase. There are several different ways of abbreviating words or phrases and we will briefly discuss all of them: acronyms, initialisms, contractions, and the basic abbreviation of words.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Acronym_vs_Initialism\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Acronym vs. Initialism<\/h2>\n<p>\nFirst, let\u2019s clear up any confusion related to acronyms vs initialisms. If you weren\u2019t wondering about this, well, prepare to remain not-confused.<\/p>\n<p>An acronym is when you take a group of words and abbreviate them to a single word using the first letters of those words, and then pronounce the resulting group of letters, such as NATO or laser.<\/p>\n<p>An initialism is an acronym were you don\u2019t pronounce the group of letters as a word, such as BBC or CIA. Alright, I guess that wasn\u2019t that hard. Generally, you don\u2019t need to put periods between the letters of an acronym.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Using_Acronyms\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Using Acronyms<\/h3>\n<p>\nAcronyms such as the ones I\u2019ve already mentioned are acceptable in formal and informal writing. However, you should always spell them out the first time you use them in a paper. This will ensure your readers know what specifically you are referring to. This will also help reduce the amount of unnecessary jargon in your <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/how-to-write-a-good-paragraph\/\">writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some people enjoy using acronyms to obfuscate and impress rather than to communicate. You shouldn\u2019t do this.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Contractions\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Contractions<\/h2>\n<p>\nYou almost certainly use contractions every day. This is when internal letters or sounds are eliminated, oftentimes when two words commonly used together are joined into one word with an apostrophe to indicate where the second word was truncated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCannot\u201d becomes \u201ccan\u2019t\u201d and \u201cis not\u201d becomes \u201cisn\u2019t.\u201d Some contractions, such as \u201cDr.\u201d for \u201cdoctor\u201d or \u201cms.\u201d for \u201cmissus\u201d are acceptable in formal writing, while most contractions that aren\u2019t titles are not permitted in formal writing. In American English, periods are used after these titles.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Generic_Abbreviations\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Generic Abbreviations<\/h2>\n<p>\nYou should put a period at the end of generic abbreviations, such as \u201cWed.\u201d for \u201cWednesday\u201d or \u201cJan.\u201d for \u201cJanuary.\u201d When referring to a state, you should check your style guide to see what it requires. Generally, when abbreviating a state name, a period is placed at the end. Postal abbreviations are always two uppercase letters, usually without a period. Again, spelling out the word is preferred.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Anacronyms\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Anacronyms<\/h2>\n<p>\nAlright, bonus tip: Anacronyms such as laser, scuba, and radar, are \u201can acronym of which the constituent letters are taken from words that are unfamiliar to most people,\u201d according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It literally translates to \u201cwithout acronym.\u201d These are usually written in lowercase, but there aren\u2019t many and you probably already either use them correctly or don\u2019t use them at all, so no need to worry. And in case you\u2019re wondering, \u201claser\u201d stands for \u201clight amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for watching!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/parts-of-a-sentence\/\">Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91195,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4030","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-parts-of-a-sentence-videos","7":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","8":"page_type-video","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4030"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279091,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4030\/revisions\/279091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}