An acronym is a kind of abbreviation. It is a word formed by taking letters from a phrase that is too long to use comfortably.
eg: LASER is an acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
If the letters do not make a word, but are pronounced individually, as in the CIA or the BBC, it can be called an initialism.
Functions seems to be the place to update oneself of the latest "undercurrents".
The alphabet soup that PM Najib's administration seemed to be fond of churning out like NKEA, ETP, GTP etc led me to a comment I'd Overheard when I went to a kenduri in Bangi recently;-
NKRA - " NAJIB Kerja, Rosmah Arah "
INTERNET Acronym - For me, the sucker's price of all acronyms must be INTERNET. It was 2009 and some of us who were attached to the ASEAN Secretariat were attracted by a banner stating "WARUNG INTERNET" advertised by a roadside stall at Wolter Monginsindi Road, Jakarta. Impressed with the availability of Internet access at a roadside stall we proceeded to an empty table, sat down and placed our orders...whilst opening our respective handphones or laptops. Having difficulty accessing the internet, we seeked clarifications from the stall operator and asked for the PIN(if any).
Then only did we realise that INTERNET stands for - INDOMIE+TELUR+KORNET (Indonesian Instant Noodle+Egg+CornedBeef)....Aaaarghhh!
PROTON - PERUSAHAAN OTOMOBIL NASIONAL
Since we're on the topic of acronyms, my wife and I recently went into a National Car company (with an acronym as their Brand Name) showroom to express my/our intention to test drive their new PROTON EXORA as we were looking for a replacement model for our 7-year old KIA Carnival/NAZA Ria.
2 1/2 weeks later....after 2 visits to the showroom as they did not call me back after the first visit, 4 test drives with different companies like KIA(Rondo), TOYOTA and NISSAN(Grand Livina)...and having placed a booking deposit with one of the company I'd test drived with... I'd finally receive a SMS from the PROTON Salesman with the message.." Assalamualaikum en amirul kete exora utk test drive dh ada bleh dtg skrg. Tq " ( sent by Proton Salesman on 23 October, 12.10noon )
...with Salesman like this and irregular supervision, it's no wonder that PROTON have lost their leadership position to PERODUA (another National Car company with an acronym)
UPDATED 8 November 2010
PS: One's name can also be an acronym like an old college mate who wanted to add me on fb but I didn't approve until I found out who MOHD FAZA AZA was recently. Sorry for the delay & Cheers Mr. Onn.
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