Dictionary Of Abbreviations

Like it or not, abbreviations and acronyms are now an essential ingredient of everyday life. Since the first edition of The Wordsworth Dictionary of Abbreviations & Acronyms was published in mid-1997, the compilers have been diligently collecting further examples from many walks of life

Published in 2001: Abbreviations, nicknames, jargon, and other short forms save time, space, and effort - provided they are understood. Thousands of new and potentially confusing terms become part of the international vocabulary each year, while our communications are relayed to one another with increasing speed. PDAs link to PCs. The Net has grown into data central, shopping mall, and grocery store all rolled into one. E-mail is faster than snail mail, cell phones are faster yet - and it is all done 24/7. Longtime and widespread use of certain abbreviations, such as R.S.V.P., has made them better understood standing alone than spelled out. Certainly we are more comfortable saying DNA than deoxyribonucleic acid - but how many people today really remember what the initials stand for? The Abbreviations Dictionary, Tenth Edition gives you this and other information from Airlines of the World to the Zodiacal Signs.

This essential reference enables users to break through all the mysteries of abbreviated American English words and phrases. The guide concentrates on acronyms and initialisms found in common work and learning situations and covers 2,100 shortened words used in American English.

Designed for practitioners, students, and librarians, this accessible, easy-to-use dictionary provides definitions for over 4,000 abbreviations and acronyms, with numerous expanded entries providing both definition and further explanation. Wide-ranging in scope and up-to-date in coverage, topics include: * International and national institutions * Qualifications * Regulatory bodies * Trade unions and trade associations * Currencies * General abbreviations used in the financial world, and more This valuable resource is a vital addition for all ready-reference and business collections.

This Dictionary covers information and communication technology (ICT), including hardware and software; information networks, including the Internet and the World Wide Web; automatic control; and ICT-related computer-aided fields. The Dictionary also lists abbreviated names of relevant organizations, conferences, symposia and workshops. This reference is important for all practitioners and users in the areas mentioned above, and those who consult or write technical material. This Second Edition contains 10,000 new entries, for a total of 33,000.

Provides the meanings of more than 13,000 acronyms, and abbreviations.

My first encoWlter with acronyms took place when I was ten years old and growing up in an occupied COWltry during the Second World War. My father proudly annoWlced one day that, despite the ban imposed by the occupying administration, he had managed to get a radio installed and could receive the BBC. (All acronyms used in this introduction are listed in this dictionary.) To me the meaning of"BBC" was that we would receive different information about the war than we got from the usual censored broadcasts. There was, of course, the well-known acronym associated with the nT, but at that time I did not realize that it meant more than the postal service, in those years a deteriorated service. Gradually the daily use of acronyms grew. Most of the newly acquired three-and four-letter abbreviations referred to organiza tions, such as the broadcasting corporations in The Netherlands and Belgium, and references to coWltries such as the USA, USSR, and UK. When attending high school (the HBS) after the war, my knowledge of acronyms grew slowly. Even during the ten years I spent in the Dutch Merchant Marine (the GHV), the number of acronyms was limited to ad vanced equipment that eventually became known as RADAR, LORAN, and DECCA.