Abbreviations and acronyms are shorter versions of existing words and phrases. Their purpose is to save time and take up less space (whether you’re typing or writing by hand).

What are Abbreviations?

Abbreviations are shorter spellings of words and expressions we use every day. they’re usually formed by taking the first few letters of a word and end with a full-stop. For example 👇🏾

Word	Abbreviation
Boulevard	Blvd.
Colonel	Col.
Corporation	Corp.
Department	Dept
Government	Govt.
Kilometer(s)	Km
Literature	Lit.
Mister/Missus	Mr./Mrs.
Reference	Ref.
Subject	Subj.
Thursday	Thurs.
Volume	Vol

Note: Certain abbreviations are formed by omitting one or more syllables from a word. This is sometimes called clipping, because we keep the beginning of the word and ‘clip’ the rest of the word. For example 👇🏾

Word	Clipping
Advertisement	Advert, Ad
Decaffeinated	Decaf
Examination	Exam
Memorandum	Memo
Photograph	Photo
Vocabulary	Vocab

What are Acronyms?

Acronyms are words which are formed from the first letters of other words, and which are pronounced as full words. For example 👇🏾

Word	Acronym
Automated Teller Machine	ATM
Do It Yourself	DIY
Date Of Birth	DOB
Do Not Disturb	DND
Federal Bureau of Investigation	FBI
For Your Information	FYI
Human Resources	HR
Intelligence Quotient	IQ
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NASA
President Of The United States	POTUS
Radio Detection And Ranging	RADAR
Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus	SCUBA
Unidentified Flying Object	UFO
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund	UNICEF
Very Important Person(s)	VIP

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