All About Abbreviations

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All About Abbreviations

An abbreviation is defined as ashortened version of a word or phrase. But did you know that there are manydifferent types of abbreviations? Here is a list of abbreviation types:
Acronym – This forms a word using the initial parts or firstletters of a name. For example, ABBA, MADD, and OPEC are all acronyms that takethe first letter from each word to form a new word. Lesser known acronymsinclude scuba and laser. The latter examples show that not all acronyms have tobe capitalized.
Initialism – Also called alphabetism, this is a group of letters, eachpronounced separately, used as an abbreviation for a name or expression.Examples include: CD, TV, and UK.
Truncation – This type of abbreviation consists only of the first partof a word. These are most often used when referring to proper titles such asmonths of the year or days of the week, e.g., Mon., Fri., Apr., Oct.
Clipped – Similar to truncation in that you are using a part of theword to form the abbreviation, but in this case you’re using either the middleor end. Common clipped abbreviations include phone (telephone) and fridge(refrigerator).
Aphesis – In this case, you have dropped the unstressed vowel atthe beginning of the word. These are often unintentional and casually spokenversions of the words. Perhaps the best example is ’cause instead of because.
Portmanteau – The blending of two or more words will give you aportmanteau. Some of my personal favorites include liger (lion and tiger),spork (spoon and fork), skort (shorts and skirt), and brinner (breakfast anddinner).
Some things to consider when usingabbreviations:

Anyone can make up an abbreviation and many are non-standard. They should, therefore, be left out of formal writing.
If the full word would be capitalized (e.g., Sunday or January), make sure to capitalize the abbreviation (e.g., Sun. or Jan.).

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Thank you , sir