Short cuts. The dictionary of useful abbreviations

319 Pages·2008·1.04 MB·English

SHORT
CUTS
The Dictionary
of USEFUL
Abbreviations
Steven Kleinedler
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kleinedler, Steven Racek.
Short cuts : the dictionary of useful abbreviations / Steven
Kleinedler.
p. cm. - (Artful Wordsmith series)
Rev. ed. of: NTe's dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations.
© 1993.
ISBN 0-8442-0905-8 (pbk.)
I. <Ac'ronyms-Dictionaries. 2. Abbreviations, English,
1.;( I. Kleinedler, Steven Racek. NTC's dictionary of acronyms and
abbreviations. II. Title. III. Series.
PE1693.K533 1993
423'.I--<lc2Q 96-26178
CIP
© 1997 by NTC Publishing Group, 4255 West Touhy Avenue,
Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646-1975 U.S.A.
All rights reserved. Except for use in areview, the reproduction or
utilization of this work 1nany form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including scanning,
photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval
system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica.
67890VP987654321
ABOUT THIS
DICTIONARY
An acronym isa shortened form of a compound or a
phrase where the initial letters are pronounced as if they
spelled a single word. An abbreviation is a shortened
form of a word, compound, or phrase, usually consisting
of the first letter(s) of the word, compound, or phrase. If
the abbreviation is pronounced, the letters are sounded
one by one. The term "abbreviation" includes initialisms,
blends, clippings, and shortened written forms. In these
pages, the reader will find the acronyms and abbrevia-
tions that appear on food packaging, in the sports and
financial pages of the newspaper, in recipes, in the tele-
phone book, in the hardware store, and in hundreds of
other places. The following paragraphs give a more de-
tailed description of the different types of shortened
forms.
ACRONYMS
An acronym is a word formed from the first letter or
letters of a compound or phrase. The resulting string of
letters ispronounced as a word, rather than a list of let-
ters. For example, scuba is from 'self-contained underwa-
ter breathing apparatus.' Sometimes, the initial letters of
articles or prepositions are excluded, as with GATT 'Gen-
eral Agreement on Thriffs and Trade,' in order to make
the aoronym more manageable. GATTis easier to remem-
ber and pronounce than GAOTATwould be. Sometimes,
as with VTOL 'vertical takeoff and landing' or PSAT
'Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test,' a vowel isinserted
to make a sequence of sounds that is easy to pronounce:
VEE-tol and PEE-sat. These special pronunciation prob-
lems are noted in the appropriate entries. An acronym
also can be formed from the first letters of the syllables
in long polysyllabic words, e.g., PABA 'para-
aminobenzoic acid.'
INITIALISMS
An initialism is made up of the first letter or letters
of one or more words. The resulting letters are not pro-
nounced as a word, but are sounded out one by one as in
CIA 'central intelligence agency' and FBI 'federal bureau
of investigation.' CIA ispronounced SEE IA, not SEE-
ah. FBI is pronounced EF BEE I. An initialism also can
be formed from the first letters of the syllables of long
polysyllabic words as in DDT, 'dichlorodiphenyltrichlo-
roethane,' an insecticide.
BLENDS
Ablend is a combination of the beginning of one
word and the end of another, such as caplet from cap-
sule and tablet or Oxbridge from Oxford and Cambridge.
CLIPPINGS
A clipping is the shortening of a polysyllabic word by
deleting part of the word's ending. Consequently, chemo-
therapy becomes chemo and examinations becomes ex-
ams. Clippings do not end with a period. Wordsthat are
formed from the beginnings of two or more words, such
as pixel from pictUffe and element, are acronyms.
SHORTENED WRITTEN FORMS
There are many abbreviations that are not usually
iv
pronounced. For instance, rm. 'room' is not usually said
aloud. Forms falling into this category usually end with a
period.
General Pronunciation Patterns
In the entries, the labels Acronym, Blend, Clipping, or
Initialism are used to indicate the way the entry is pro-
nounced. An entry lacking one of these four labels is
considered to be a shortened written form that is usually
not pronounced even though is has the form of a clipping
or initialism. These entries are usually pronounced in
their full form, i.e., min. is pronounced minute, RR is
pronounced railroad, etc. All entries labeled as acro-
nyms, blends, or clippings are pronounced as single
words. All words labeled as initialisms are pronounced by
sounding out each letter name, one by one. The entries
not labeled as acronyms, blends, clippings, or initialisms
are not usually pronounced. See number 6 in the "Guide
to the Use of the Dictionary" on page vii.
Punctuation and Capitalization
It is difficult to generalize about punctuation and cap-
'italization in shortened forms, Mostacronyms are written
and printed with capital letters, t::.g.,GRAS 'generally
regarded as safe.' Some acronyms have become regular
English words and are written and printed in lower case,
e.g., scuba, radar, laser. Many abbreviations that do not
belong to one of the other categories are left in lower
case: in. 'inch,' nt. wt. 'net weight.' Abbreviations that
usually or always are written with capital letters are also
capitalized in this dictionary. Traditionally, initialisms are
written or printed with a period after each letter, but
that practice is declining. Acronyms, however, usually do
not have periods after each letter. Blends never end in
v
periods. Although there is a trend toward not using peri-
ods with initialisms, some of them are always written
with periods. For instance, e.g. 'for example,' from the
Latin exempli gratia; Le. 'that is,' from the Latin id est;
and etc. 'and so on,' from the Latin etcetera. In this dic-
tionary, abbreviations that usually or always have periods
are shown with periods. Please remember that practice
differs considerably on this point and is often determined
by editorial style.
Acknowledgements
Among the many people who have contributed ideas
for entries in this dictionary, I would like to thank espe-
cially Jon Vincent, Elizabeth Senger, Dr.Douglas Files,
Momand Dad, J. Dallas Smith, Wayne Dunn, 'led Young,
Renae Theodore, Zeke from the Zoo,Frank from the
Bank, LeRoyBach, Sheryl A. Smith, Charles C. Va-
lauskas, Darren Hoffman, and Richard Spears.
vi
Guide to the
Use of the
Dictionary
1. Entry heads are alphabetized according to an abso-
lute alphabetical order that ignores punctuation,
spaces, and hyphens.
2. Entry heads appear in boldface type. When words
or expressions that are not entries in this dictionary
are cited, they appear in italics.
3. Examples appear in italics and follow an arrowhead
•...
" "
4. An entry head may have one or more alternate
forms. The alternatives are printed in boldface type
and are preceded by ..AND." Alternative forms con-
taining commas are separated by semicolons, other-
wise by commas.
5. The word or words for which the entry head stands
appear in roman type. Alternative or closely related
definitions and paraphrases are separated by semi-
colons.
6. The word initialism indicates that the entry head is
pronounced by sounding out its letters one by one.
The words acronym, blend, or clipping indicate that
the entry head is pronounced as a normal whole
word. The absence of one of the words initialism,
acronym, blend, or clipping indicates that the entry
in question is usually pronounced aloud in its full
vii
form. Note, however, that people may attempt to
spell out any of the entry heads or pronounce them
as normal words.
7. Adefinition or explanation of the entry head ap-
pears in parentheses. The information in parentheses
may include additional information about the abbre-
viation.
8. Manyexpressions have more than one major sense
or meaning. These meanings are numbered with
boldface numerals.
9. Sometimes a numbered sense will have an alterna-
tive form that does not belong to the other senses.
In such cases the "AND" and the alternative form
followsthe numeral.
10. In some entries, comments direct the reader to other
entries for additional information through the use of
the terms "compare with," "see," or "see also."
Entries appearing as cross-references are in slanted
type.
11. The symbol "<" means "is derived from" or "comes
from" when used in the description of the origins of
words;_For example, the expression zero <Ar sifr
means "zero is derived from the Arabic word sifr."
viii
A
A 1. a grade indicating superior work. (Initialism. In the
series A, E, C,D,E and A, E, C,D,Y) ~ Susan's parents
gave her $25for every A she received. 2. a musical tone.
(Initialism. The sixth note of the scale of Cmajor.) ~ Or-
chestras use the A above middle C to tune up before a
concert. 3. a blood type. (Initialism.) ~ The blood bank
had several pints ofA positive and A negative blood. ~
People with Type A blood can receive Type 0or Type A. ~
Type A blood can beused bypeople with Type AB or Type
A. 4. ace. (Usedon playing cards. Inthe series J, Q,K, A.)
~ Tina yelled "Blackjack!" as the dealer turned over an
A. 5. alto. (In most choral music arrangements, the low-
est range of a female voice. In the series S,A, T,E.) 6.
ampere. (A unit of the strength of electrical current.) ~
W= VA(watts = volts times amperes) ~ 60-Afuse 7. AND
ans. answer. (Initialism. Often used in conjunction with
Q = Question.) ~ Q:2 x 5A: 10 8. AND Apr. April. (Often
used in graph columns or rows to chart the month-by-
month progress ofsomething. SeealsoApr.) ~ Easter-A
189. AND Aug. August. (Often used in graph columns or
rows to chart the month-by-month progress of some-
thing. See alsoAug.) ~ Fall quarter classes begin A 28.
a acceleration. (Aphysics abbreviation, used in formulas
and equations. Acceleration isequal to the change in ve-
l
A-I
locity divided by the change in time. The example indi-
cates an acceleration of 32.17 feet per second each
second.) ~ a=32.17 feet per second per second.
A-I superlative; the best. ~ They ate an A-l steak and
shrimp dinner.
A
angstrom. (A unit of linear measurement equal to one
ten-billionth [1110,000,000,000] of a meter. The same as
AU.)
A.A. Associate inArts. (Initialism. Atwo-year college de-
gree.) ~ After receiving an A.A. at a city college, Jim
tra.nsferred into afour-year state university to earn a
bachelor's degree.
AA Alcoholics Anonymous. (Initialism. An organization
founded in 1935whose members help each other achieve
and maintain sobriety.) ~ When Jerry was caught drink-
ing on thejob, his supervisor allowed him tokeep work-
ing as long as he attended AA meetings.
AAA American Automobile Association. (Pronounced
"Triple A." Founded in 1902, a travel organization
whose services include planning trips and vacations,
placing hotel and transportation reservations, and pro-
viding insyrance and road service.) ~ After the record
sn01~fall, stranded motorists flooded theAAA office with
phone calls.
AAAS American Association forthe Advancement ofSci-
ence. (Initialism. Founded in 1848,the largest federation
of scientific groups, whose goals include furthering the
progress of science and promoting human welfare.) ~
Through theAALtS, Larry's chemistry group was able to
share information with scientists across the country.
AARP American Association of Retired Persons. (Initial-
ism,also pronounced asan acronym. Anonprofit organi-
2