Pimp my English | Types of abbreviations

By Anna Malczyk
An abbreviation is any word that is a shortened version of a longer word of phrase. While this may sound simple, there are actually many different types of abbreviations. It’s not important to remember all of these terms, but it’s interesting to know about them. Here’s a quick guide to the important ones.

Acronym
An acronym is an abbreviation formed out of the first letters (or parts) of words. The acronym is always a word in its own right (in other words, you ay it as a word rather than a sequence of letters). Acronyms can be ALL CAPS, Initial Caps or all lower case. Examples include:
•    OPEC, FIFA, Aids, scuba

Initialism
Like an acronym, initialism involves using only the first letter or part of each word. However, the difference is that each letter is spoken separately. Initialisms are usually ALL CAPS. Examples include:
•    TV, UCT, USA, HTML

Truncation
To truncate something means to cut it short. Therefore, a truncation is an abbreviation that consists of just the beginning part of the word. Often, we use truncations for commonly used proper nouns and official words. Examples include:
•    Oct, Fri, Doc, Aus

Clipped abbreviation
This one is the same as a truncation except that you use the middle or end part of the word (instead of the first part). Some clipped abbreviations are so common that people don’t realise that they’re part of a longer word. Some examples:
•    fridge (refrigerator), phone (telephone), bus (omnibus)

Portmanteau
Finally, a portmanteau is a blend of two words – in other words, taking parts of two separate words and stitching them together. These are often made for fun, but some have come into common usage. Examples include:
•    smog (smoke and fog), motel (motor and hotel), netiquette (net and etiquette), brunch (breakfast and lunch)

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