Page 87 - Improve_Your_Written_English [Marion_Field]

L O O K IN G A T A PO ST RO PH ES A ND A BBR EVIATIO NS / 73

USING INITIAL LETTERS
It is becoming increasingly common to describe companies
or organisations only by the initial letters of the name of the
group. This is now so prevalent that we often forget what the
original letters stood for! It is no longer considered necessary
to put a full stop after each capital letter. Here are some
examples:

AGM Annual General Meeting
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
CPS Crown Prosecution Service
GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education
MP Member of Parliament
MEP Member of the European Parliament
RAF Royal Air Force

LOOKING AT ACRONYMS
Acronyms are words that are formed by the initial letters
and we usually say the word rather than the letters:

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ANZAC Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
ASH Action on Smoking and Health
LAMDA London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation
NASA National Aeronautic and Space Administration
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
RADA Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
RADAR Radio Detection And Ranging
SCUBA Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SONAR Sound Navigation And Ranging
UCAS Universities Colleges Admissions Service