Your correspondent predicts that schools everywhere – from pre-K to university – will soon be adding a new course to their curricula: Acronymics and Initialisms.
Our language has become so chock-full of both that it is necessary to know them, and the difference between them, if there is to be any hope of understanding each other, or what we hear and read:
- An Acronym is a short ‘abbreviation word’ made from the first letters of a group of words and said out loud as a single new word, like NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) or SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
- An Initialism is a group of letters that make no sense if said like a real word but which are pronounced letter-by-letter: e.g., FBI, DIY, PTA and A/K/A. Also E.G. (exempli gratia) and I.E. (id est), which are Latin for ‘for example’ and ‘that is.’
- Real words are like that, only different.
A&I – not to be confused with AI – has become so fundamental to everyday communication that if Our Founders returned, they would not understand much of what was being said. For example, would George Washington or Tom Jefferson – bright as they were – know what a BLT is? What ASAP means? Heck, no. I mean, NFW.
Not only are acronyms and initialisms substituted for entire terms or concepts in modern communications, but various areas of human endeavor have their own special Acronymic/Initialism vocabularies. E.g., the Police Department (a/k/a the PD) has its list, including:
- ATL: Attempt to locate a person or item.
- BOLO: Be on the lookout.
- DUI: Driving under the influence.
- EDP: Emotionally disturbed person.
- OIS: Officer-involved shooting.
- PC: Probable cause.
- UTL: Unable to locate.
As does Medicine:
- CBC: Complete blood count.
- BMP: Basic metabolic panel.
- EKG/ECG: Electrocardiogram.
- CXR: Chest X-ray.
- UTI: Urinary tract infection.
- COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- DNR: Do not resuscitate.
American A&I can thoroughly mystify foreigners attempting to navigate our culture. Fortunately, there is a website that can form the basis of A&I courses for 3rd grade through university: https://www.acronymfinder.com.
With the advent of Social Media (SM, not to be confused with S&M), A&I has proliferated to the point where LOL, DYK, TBT, POV, ICYMI, IMO (or the more humble IMHO), B2B, BTW are now so common that familiarity with their meanings is as necessary to communicating as what was known in Old-School days as “English” and “grammar.” Of course, understanding either of those is impossible without first knowing your ABC’s.
History teaches that “understanding” is the foundation of World Peace. Per The Bible, today’s variety of languages – and the very disunity of Humanity – began at the Tower at Babel in present-day Iraq. As Bible devotees know, all humans were once united and everyone spoke the same language – until they decided to start building a Tower to reach Heaven.
For some reason, their project really PO’d the Almighty, who suddenly caused them all to speak different languages – to Babel/babble. Because humans suddenly spoke different languages and could no longer understand each other, they couldn’t work together to finish their Tower to heaven.
Per the Good Book, humanity eventually scattered across the earth, forming many different tribes and nations. Through the centuries, difficulty understanding each other has led to endless misunderstandings, often resolved by killing each other because that was easier than learning Polish, or Mongolian.
So the Bible/Babel/babble lesson is clear: For a more loving and peaceful world, everyone – Americans included – should learn their A&I’s. And mind their P’s&Q’s.
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