Initialism

An initialism is a type of abbreviation where you combine the first letters of each word in a sentence or phrase. It looks like a new word, but you pronounce each letter individually when you say it out loud.

It is different from acronyms because, with an acronym, you pronounce the whole abbreviation like it’s a new word.

For example, “HIV” is an initialism because you say each letter separately. However, when you say “AIDS”, you say it like it’s a new word. That makes it an acronym.

Sometimes, initialisms skip the less important words in their original phrases or sentences, such as:

• the
• a
• an
• to
• for
• of

A good example of this is “RSPCA”. It stands for “Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”, but the initialism skips four of the unimportant words!

Some common initialisms include:

• BBC (British Broadcasting Company).
• AA (Alcoholics Anonymous).
• MIA (Missing In Action).
• GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education).
• PA (Personal Assistant)
• NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)

If you are just chatting with other people online, the difference between an acronym and an initialism probably isn’t very important. You’d probably seem pretty pretentious if you tried to correct someone.

However, when you’re writing about them in your English exam, it’s much more useful to get them right! If you can’t remember which one is which, it’s much better for you to use the word “abbreviation” instead. It will make you more accurate in your words.

Although, saying that, many teachers and examiners won’t notice that you’ve mixed them up. Many don’t even know the difference! I wouldn’t risk it, though! You never know if you get that one pedantic examiner who won’t give you the marks if you say “acronym” instead of “initialism”!