on Just Publishing Advice:

We use abbreviations and acronyms all the time, but what do they mean?

The English language uses many forms of word abbreviation.

We use shortened forms increasingly for text messaging to reduce a word or phrase.

Very often these are acronyms using initial letters such as LOL, ROTFL, BRB.

Other forms also use a capital letter from the start of each word but are pronounced as words. A good example is the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which forms the word, NATO.

Many common abbreviations, however, are pronounced letter by letter. The United States of America is most commonly referred to as the US or the USA, and the United Kingdom as the UK.

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