Acronyms are pronounceable words consisting (usually) of the first letters of a group of words. An example is RAM, for Random Access Memory. An abbreviation is a shortened word, Ed. for editor. Abbreviations can also be composed of the first letters of an expression, but if it's not pronounceable in the language where it originated it is not considered a true acronym. These are dictionary definitions for these two words, but in the real world you will hear mostly the word 'acronym' used to describe any 'word' that is short and not self-explanatory.
Some acronyms become words after years of use. An examples is 'laser' for Light Amplification By Stimulated Emission of Radiation. I don't know of an abbreviation that became a word, but there's a lot I don't know!
A detailed explanation can be found on the Acronymfinder.com site. CAUTION: a pop-under with every access!
I found all of these sources because I couldn't read my favorite hardcopy hi-tech magazine, Electronic Products, without stumbling over several undecipherable abbreviations in each issue. And this in spite of EP being one of the better magazine for taking the time to parenthetically define the words behind newer abbreviations. This may not give you a high tech education but at least you can search the internet for more detail.
I began to gather these little beasts in a database, soon passing 500 entries and requiring that I do my reading either on-line or at least near the computer to see if I already knew the meaning or to add it to my collection.
Finally, you should know that I am a RAG man, or a Reverse Acronym Generating man, owing to my upbringing in a family of sharp-witted and sharp-tongued Scottish descendents, who never let a play on words slip by them. And here you thought that Scots only held onto money! So I can't pass up the opportunity - especially when someone is unconscious of the fact that his in-house terminology is Greek to the outsider - of making up a nonsense phrase to match their carelessly dropped buzzword. Here are a few:
An unrelated, but equally humorous adventure is to read the headings from the tops of the yellow pages in your phone book, something my sister and I had fun with when we were 8 or 9. You can do it in your office when you need a "creativity break." Just start reading and try to keep from laughing. Of course you have to somehow get thru the attorneys-attorneys section first, but maybe the sheer volume there will give you a laugh! I really like the M's: meditation-mirrors, motorcycle-movers, moving-mufflers. Oh, this is good, betcha never heard of these, but they're in the phone book, and anything that is printed must be true: pizza-plants! Oops! Got carried away again: and this was supposed to be such a serious page. :-)
Links to the on-line databases
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Last update: November, 2006. Comments or questions?