Acronyms and Initialisms?
"Acronyms are formed by combining the first letter or letters of several words; they are pronounced as words and written without periods" (Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu, The Business Writer's Handbook).
Examples: radar (radio detecting and ranging), COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
"Initialisms are formed by combining the initial letter of each word in a multiword term; they are pronounced as separate letters" (Alred, Brusaw, and Oliu).
Examples: e.o.m. (end of month), c.o.d. (cash on delivery), p.m. (post meridian).
Usage guidelines:
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"Except for commonly used abbreviations (U.S., a.m.), spell out a term to be abbreviated the first time it is used, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used alone.
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In long documents, repeat the full term in parentheses after the abbreviation at regular intervals to remind readers of the abbreviation's meaning, as in "Remember to submit the CAR (Capital Appropriations Request) by. . . ."
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Do not add an additional period at the end of a sentence that ends with an abbreviation (example: The official name of the company is DataBase, Inc.).
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Write acronyms in capital letters without periods. The only exceptions are acronyms that have become accepted as common nouns, which are written in lowercase letters, such as scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
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