An abbreviation is a shortened form of a
word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it
consists of a letter or group of letters taken
from the word or phrase.
Example: abbreviation = abbr. / abbrv. /
abbrev.
An acronym is usually formed by taking the
first initials of a phrase or compoundedword and using those initials to form a word
that stands for something.
Example: UFO = Unidentified Flying Object
We can abbreviate the following:
1. Titles before names:
Mr. =
Mister (for men) (plural = Misters)
Ms. =
It isn’t an abbreviation! (for women) (plural
= Mess)
Prof. = Professor (plural = Profs.)
Dr. =
Doctor (plural = Drs.)
St. =
Saint (plural = Sts.)
Rev. = Reverend (plural = Revs.)
Hon. = Honourable (plural = Hons.)
Sr. =
Senior
Jr. =
Junior
Capt. = Captain
Pres. = President
2. Names of Familiar Institutions:
FBI =
Federal Bureau of Investigation
CIA =
Central Intelligence Agency
IMF = International Monetary Fund
UN =
United Nations
EC =
European Commission
EU =
European Union
3. Names of Countries:
USA = United Stated of America
UK =
United Kingdom
GB =
Great Britain
4. Names of Corporations:
IBM = International Business Machines
5. Names of Famous People:
MLK = Martin Luther King
6. Names of Familiar Objects:
VCR = Videocassette Recorder
CD =
Compact Disc
DVD = Digital Video/Versatile Disk
7. Terms of mathematical units:
in. = inch
ft. = feet mi. = mile
ft² = square feet
ft³ = cubic feet
kg. = kilogram
g. = gram
km. = kilometre
m. = metre t = tonne
cm. = centimetre
mm. = millimetre
lb = pound
tbsp. = tablespoon
L = litre
ml. = millilitre
°F = degrees Fahrenheit
°C = degrees Celsius
8. Long, common phrases
IQ =
Intelligence Quotient
mph = miles per hour
mpg = miles per gallon
9. Words used with numbers
a.m. = ante meridiem (before noon)
p.m. = post meridiem (after noon)
B.C. = before Christ
A.D. =
anno domini (in the year of the Lord)
B.C.E. = before the common era
C.E. =
common era
10. Common Latin terms:
etc. =
et cetera (and so forth)
i.e. =
id est (that is)
e.g. =
exempli gratia (for example)
et al. = et alii (and others)
vs. =
versus
More Common Abbreviations and Acronyms:
@
At
a/o
Account of (on behalf of)
AOB
Any other business
approx.
Approximately
ASAP
As soon as possible
BA
Bachelor of Arts
CEO
Chief executive officer
Co
Company
COD
Cash on delivery
dept
Department
Dip.
Diploma
ETA
Estimated time of arrival
GMT
Greenwich mean time
Govt.
Government
HQ
Headquarters or High Quality
Inc
Incorporated
Info
Information
Ltd
Limited
MA
Master of Arts
Max.
Maximum
Min.
Minimum
mo.
Month
MP
Member of Parliament
N/A
Not applicable
NB
Nota Bene (it is important to note)
no.
Number
Opp.
Opposite
p.a.
Per annum (per year)
p.s.
Post scriptum
p.w.
Per week
PA
Personal assistant
PhD.
Doctor of Philosophy
Plc
Public limited company
pls
Please
PR
Public relations
pto
Please turn over
qty
Quantity
re
With reference to
RSVP
Répondez s'il vous plait (please reply)
RVSVP
Univ.
Répondez Vite S'il Vous Plaît (please
reply quickly)
University
VAT
Value added tax
VIP
Very important person
Vo.
Volume
Common Chat Acronyms:
AND
B4N
BBL
BTA
CUL8TR
F2F
FWIW
IAC
IC
IBCNU
IMO
IOW
L8R
PMJI
SIG
Any Day Now
Bye For Now
Be Back Later
But then Again
See you later
Face to Face
For What It's Worth
In Any Case
I See
I'll be seeing you
In My Opinion
In Other Words
Later
Pardon me for Jumping In
Special Interest Group
BTW
DYKU
FYI
GAL
GMTA
IMY
ILY
IBGN
IMHO
J/K
LD
LLTA
OIC
OTOH
~POOF~
STATS
TAFN
Age/Gender/Location check
That's All for Now
Tgif
TTUL
WFM
WUF
AFK
BAK
BRB
LOL
Thank God It's Friday
Talk to you Later
Works for Me
Where are you From?
Away from Keyboard
Back at Keyboard
Be Right Back
Laugh a lot
By the Way
Did You Know
For Your Information
Get a Life
Great Minds think Alike
In My Case
I Love You
I’ll be going now
In My Humble Opinion
Just Kidding
Later Dude
Lots and Lots of Thunderous Applause
Oh, I see
On the Other Hand
Exiting the room
ROFL
RSN
Rolling on Floor Laughing
Real Soon Now
SO
SYL
TANJ
TTFN
Txs
WU
WYSIWYG
IOU
Significant Other
See You Later
There is No Justice
Ta Ta for Now
Thanks
What's Up?
What you see is What you Get
I owe you
Look at the pictures and write the correct abbreviations or acronyms:
1.___ Jones. 2.___ Lewis. 3.___ Smith. 4.___ Judge Donovan 5.___ Black 6. ___ Obama 7._________ 8.___________
9.______ 10._________ 11.___________ 12.___________ 13.___________ 14._______ 15.__________ 16._________
Write the abbreviations or acronyms in full:
1.
___________________ 5.
___________________ 9.
2.
___________________
6.
___________________10.
___________________
3.
___________________
7.
___________________ 11.
___________________
4.
___________________
8.
___________________
___________________
12.
___________________
Write the correct mathematical units in full:
3
2
1.
_______________
6.
2.
_______________
7.
3.
_______________
8.
4.
_______________
9.
5.
_______________
10.
_______________
11.
_______________
16.
____________
_______________
12.
_______________
17.
____________
_______________
13.
_______________
18.
____________
_______________
14.
_______________
19.
____________
_____________
15.
_______________
20.
____________
Complete the sentences with the correct abbreviations or acronyms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
The winning ticket at today’s lottery is ______ 19.
By 2040, China’s population is expected to be ____________ 1.45 billion.
‘Approve’ (___________ disapprove) means to speak or think favourably of something or someone.
My dad wakes up very early in the morning because he has to be at work at 6.00 ___________.
Socrates, the famous Classical Greek Athenian philosopher, died in 399 __________.
Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous Italian polymath _______ a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a musician, a scientist
________. He was born on ________ 1452.
In the context of social invitations ____________ is a request for a response from the invited person.
I usually return home from work at 10.30 ________.
John downloaded a clip from YouTube in _________.
There are many irregular verbs in the English language, _________ break, do, make.
I’m watching a great football match, Barcelona _________ Real Madrid.
If you’re looking for ___________ about a famous person, you can use the online encyclopaedia.
Humans who dive without protection can survive 300m __________ under water.
The coldest temperature that a human can survive without protection is 89 0F _______.
Read the dialogue, replacing the chat acronyms with the correct phrases.
Hey! WU?
Yeah! GMTA! I was just thinking
the same thing!
What? Really? No, I didn’t know.
IAC, I’d really like to go, BTA, I
promised my boss I’ll finish this
report by Monday. So, I have to
stay home and get some work
done.
OIC. Maybe you’re right. IBGN. I’ll
think about it. LD!
Great! TGIF!
What are you doing
tomorrow? DYKU that
“The
Killers”
are
performing live at the
“Grunge”
You must be jogging!
It’s
Saturday night! GAL!!!
FWIW, I have already
bought the tickets. I’ll let
you sleep on in. B4N.
IMO, you shouldn’t miss
such a great gig. TTUL!
W
h
KEY (1)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Key (2)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
KEY (4)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Key (3)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Prof. Jones
Dr. Lewis
Re. Smith
Hon. Judge Donovan
Capt. Black
Pres. Obama
MLK
CIA
FBI
EU
UN
UK
USA
At
Dip.
UFO
DVD = Digital Video/Versatile Disk
VIP = Very Important Person
VAT = Value Added Tax
IQ = Intelligence Quotient
PhD = Doctor of Philosophy
MA = Master of Arts
ASAP = As Soon As Possible
7.
The winning ticket at today’s lottery is no. 19.
By 2040, China’s population is expected to be
approx. 1.45 billion.
‘Approve’ (opp. disapprove) means to speak or
think favourably of something or someone.
My dad wakes up very early in the morning
because he has to be at work at 6.00 a.m.
Socrates, the famous Classical Greek Athenian
philosopher, died in 399 BC.
Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous Italian
polymath i.e. a painter, a sculptor, an architect,
a musician, a scientist etc. He was born on AD.
1452.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
KEY (5)
-
Hey! What’s up?
Yeah! Great minds think alike!
I was just thinking the same thing!
-
What? Really? No, I didn’t know. In any case, I’d really like to go, but then again
I promised my boss I’ll finish this report
by Monday. So, I have to stay home at
get some work done.
Oh, I see. Maybe you’re right. I’ll be going
now. I’ll think about it. Later Dude!
-
-
Co. = Company
CEO = Chief Executive Officer
LTD = Limited
MP = Member of Parliament
PS = Post Scriptum
20 inches
4 tablespoons
15 litres
50 grams
42 centimetres
25 square feet
40 degrees Fahrenheit
4 degrees Celsius
17 pounds
5 feet
38 kilograms
12 metres
250 kilometres
9 millilitres
43 millimetres
30 cubic feet
80 miles per hour
37 miles per gallon
200 tonnes
350 miles
In the context of social invitations RSVP is a
request for a response from the invited
person.
I usually return home from work at 10.30 pm.
John downloaded a clip from YouTube in HQ.
There are many irregular verbs in the English
language, e.g. break, do, make.
I’m watching a great football match, Barcelona
vs. Real Madrid.
If you’re looking for info about a famous
person, you can use the online encyclopaedia.
Humans who dive without protection can
survive 300m max. under water.
The coldest temperature that a human can
survive without protection is 89 0F min.
Great! Thank god it’s Friday!
What are you doing tomorrow? Did you
know that “The Killers” are performing
live at the “Grunge”?
You must be jogging! It’s Saturday night!
Get a life! For what is worth, I have
already bought the tickets. I’ll let you
sleep on it. Bye for now. In my opinion
you shouldn’t miss such a great gig. Talk
to you later.
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