ACRONYM
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
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1998
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© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
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ACRONYM Also protogram. An
ABBREVIATION formed from the first letters of a series of words and pronounced as one word:
NATO from
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, pronounced ‘Nay-toe’:
radar from
radio detection and ranging, pronounced ‘ray-dar’. Some lexicologists regard the acronym as a kind of initialism; others see it as contrasting with the initialism, in which case that term is restricted to abbreviations that are pronounced only as sequences of letters: for example,
BBC as ‘bee-bee-cee’. In this entry, acronyms and initialisms are treated as distinct. Informally, it is not unusual for both kinds of abbreviation to be lumped together as
letter words, and there are many grey areas between them. In structural terms, there are three kinds of acronym: (1) Letter acronyms, such as
NATO,
radar. (2) Syllabic acronyms, such as
Asda (Associated Dairies) and
sitcom (situation comedy). (3) Hybrids of these, such as
CoSIRA (Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas) and
MATCON (microwave aerospace terminal control).
Pronunciation and orthography
The pronunciation of letter acronyms has encouraged two tendencies in abbreviation: to omit points (
NATO rather than
N.A.T.O.); to use lower-case letters (
radar rather than
RADAR). As a result, an acronym may become so fully a word that its letter-based origin ceases to signify or be remembered, as with
radar. Occasionally, contrasts occur, such as lower-case
radar and upper-case
RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation). There are variations, inconsistencies, and idiosyncratic practices in the presentation of letter acronyms: the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is conservatively contracted to
U.N.E.S.C.O., but commonly contracted to
UNESCO and sometimes
Unesco. In the house styles of some publications, common acronyms are presented as if they were proper nouns: ‘When the Vice-President explicitly links European concessions on Gatt [General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade] to the continuance of Nato, he bangs a crude drum’ (editorial,
Guardian, 11 Feb. 1992). Syllabic and hybrid acronyms do not have points (
Asda,
sitcom), may be lower-case, upper-case, or mixed, and sometimes have internal capitals: for example,
HoJo, short for the US hotel-and-restaurant group
Howard Johnson.
The effects of pronounceability
Because acronyms are pronounceable and easy to create, they make convenient shorthand labels, mnemonic aids, and activist slogans. A typical
shorthand acronym is Disney's
EPCOT or
Epcot: Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (in Florida).
Mnemonic acronyms are often homonyms of existing words that help fix events and ideas in people's minds:
SALT, which is not connected with sodium chloride and means ‘Strategic Arms Limitation Talks’;
SQUID, which has nothing to do with the sea and means ‘superconducting quantum interference device’.
Slogan acronyms are parasitic on existing words, coined to label a cause and send a message at the same time:
ASH for ‘Action on Smoking and Health’;
DUMP for ‘Disposal of Unused Medicines and Pills’;
NOW for ‘National Organization of Women’. Mnemonic and slogan acronyms are particularly subject to word-play, especially in headlines:
Can START be stopped? refers to Strategic Arms Reduction Talks;
A ConCERNed Pope refers to the Vatican's interest in radiation and in CERN, the Centre européen pour la recherche nucléaire.
Syllabic acronyms
Syllabic acronyms, currently fashionable in many languages, are related to word blends such as
brunch and
electrocute. Some two-syllable and three-syllable forms are:
Amoco American Oil Company;
Asda Associated Dairies;
Con Ed Consolidated Edison;
Fedeco Federal Electoral Commission (Nigeria);
HoJo Howard Johnson [Motor Lodges] (US);
op-ed opposite the editorial page (journalese);
sitcom situation comedy (television drama). The factors that have encouraged their spread include computer usage, telex addresses, the naming of scientific and technical devices and activities, and the often flamboyant labelling of commercial products.
Creativity
Acronyms are numerous and more are constantly being coined. As a result, they are often gathered, with other abbreviations, in such collections as
Elsevier's Foreign-Language Teacher's Dictionary of Acronyms and Abbreviations ( Udo O. H. Jung, 1985), which contains more than 3,500 items like
Flint (Foreign Language Instructional Technology) and
Team (Teachers of English Arabic Monthly). Although many acronyms are soberly functional, others have a touch of whimsy about them, such as
BOMFOG (Brotherhood of Man, Fatherhood of God), a term used by US journalists for pious and platitudinous speeches, evidently an abbreviation of phrases with which Nelson Rockefeller like to end his speeches. The informal BrE term
bumf (unnecessary papers and paperwork) is comparable; it derives from public-school and Armed Forces slang for toilet paper, which in turn descends from
bum fodder, a 17c expression for trashy printed matter. See
Q,
-ONYM,
SYLLABLE WORD.
A SPECTRUM OF ACRONYMS
There is no sharp dividing line between initialisms and acronyms, and among acronyms the dividing line is not sharp between the pronounceable but meaningless and forms that have been chosen because they give ‘added value’. The five stages below represent the continuum from initialisms to slogan acronyms.
Unpronounceable initialisms
Amateur Athletic Association | AAA |
Graduate of the Royal | G.R.S.M. |
School of Music | |
Semi-acronyms
British Broadcasting Corporation (informal usage, omitting the C) | BBC (Beeb) |
Cambridge College of Arts and Technology | CCAT (See-cat) |
Shorthand acronyms
Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow | EPCOT/Epcot |
Roll-on, roll-off (ferries) | RO-RO/ro-ro |
Mnemonic acronyms
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks | SALT |
Superconducting quantum interference device | SQUID |
Slogan acronyms
Aboriginal Lands of Hawaiian Ancestry | ALOHA |
National Organization of Women | NOW |
In addition, because acronyms are so much like words, they can become part of further acronyms, as when
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) contributes the
A in both
ARC (AIDS-related complex) and
DIFA (Design Industries Foundations for AIDS).
Cite this article
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Psalm 94 among the kingship-of-yhwh psalms
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/1999; ; 700+ words
; ...themes at this juncture in book 4. 1. Psalm 94 and Psalms 90-92 Several scholars have noted that...expressed in all the kingship-- of-Yhwh psalms surrounding Psalm 94. Significantly, Psalms 90 and 94 are the only two psalms in book...
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Psalm 102 im Kontext des Vierten Psalmenbuches
Magazine article from: Journal of Biblical Literature; 1/1/1997; ; 700+ words
; ...seeks the place of Psalm 102 in the fourth...of the Psalter, Psalms 90-106. First...book ends with Psalm 89 and believes that Psalms 101-104 are intended...Davidic kingdom in Psalm 89. Since David...the headings to Psalms 101 and 103, he...
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Psalm 24
Magazine article from: Interpretation; 7/1/1997; ; 700+ words
; ...canonical shape of the psalms suggests that Psalm 1 is an introduction...the pattern for the psalms as torah, so Psalm 2 provides the fundamental...classifies this as a psalm of orientation, in distinction from psalms of disorientation...
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Psalms
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 7/1/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...commentary on the Book of Psalms is that S. does not classify each psalm according to its...these are typically psalms that are prominent...For instance, Psalm 1 receives over five...interpretation; and Psalm 51 is covered in...treatment of the psalms highlights their...
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PSALM 22: FROM TRIAL TO TRIUMPH
Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 6/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; ...literary genre exercises its own constraints. Psalm 22 has received the attention of able Jewish...study shall undertake an examination of Psalm 22 in an effort to gather and use the available...hermeneutical chair" in order to gain the psalm's full impact. In so doing it is hoped...
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Psalms, Volume 3, Psalms 90-150
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...approaching each psalm and also discusses such themes as "The Psalms and History" (including...the main focus of Psalms study needs to be the individual psalm. An opposite subject...prefer to focus on the psalms as we have them...s treatment of Psalm 104 can serve as...
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Psalm 119: The Exaltation of Torah.(Review)
Magazine article from: The Journal of the American Oriental Society; 1/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...appeals also to "the eight acts of creation in Genesis 1.") The authors group the eight acrostic psalms into pairs: Psalms 9/10 with Psalm 37, Psalms 25 and 34, Psalms ill and 112, 119 and 145. The pairing of Psalms 111 and 112 is appealing...
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Psalms, Volume 1, Psalms 1-41; Volume 2, Psalms 42-89
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...Instead, he wants the Psalms to speak their own message...introduction, G. treats each psalm under three headings...plural would obscure a psalm's poetic character...feminine voice in some psalms (pp. 31-32; though...curiously he does not mention Psalm 131), which is consistent...
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Psalm 75: Its poetic context and structure
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 7/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...the neighboring Psalms 73, 74, and 76. An analysis of the Psalm's poetic structure...essential link between Psalms 73-74 and Psalm 76 in a liturgical...setting where the four psalms were used together. I. Translation of Psalm 75 V. Concluding...
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Psalm 87 as a Reappraisal of the Zion Tradition and Its Reception in Galatians 4:26
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 7/1/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...Hebrew Bible traceable in Psalms, Lamentations, and...variety of Zion texts, Psalm 87 (86 LXX) offers...at explaining why the psalm has caused difficulties...Next I explore the psalm's similarities to Psalms 46 and 48 (B) as well...
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Psalms
Book article from: A Dictionary of the Bible
...inferred from the content. The psalms have devices and techniques...is disputed. Some of the few psalms having a regular rhythm are...and 117. Ps. 29 (an early psalm, resembling literature found...letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalms were composed for a variety...
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psalm
Book article from: The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
...sä(l)m / (also Psalm ) • n. a sacred song...contained in the biblical Book of Psalms and used in Christian and Jewish...worship: a delightful setting of Psalm 150. ∎ ( the Psalms or the Book of Psalms ) a book...
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Psalms, Book of
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
Psalms, Book of (Gk. ψα...x2019;). The OT Book contains 150 Psalms, variously enumerated; for the most part...e.g. Ps. 90 AV is Ps. 89 Vulg. The Psalms are traditionally divided into five books...
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Bay Psalm Book
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to United States History
...familiarly called the Bay Psalm Book , was the first...Hopkins's Whole Book of Psalms (1562), an insufficiently...more accurate Book of Psalms (1612) problematic...titled, in 1651. The Bay Psalm Book played a central...since Puritans sang psalms to praise God, comfort...
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Psalms, liturgical use of
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
Psalms, liturgical use of. Use of Psalms in the Jewish and Christian liturgical services. Their regular...a marked decline in the use of the psalter, though metrical psalms (psalms translated into metrical hymns) remain popular; and...
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