Selected Acronyms
In Section A find a list of certain frequently-used acronyms. If you can, print this list. From your own knowledge enter your answer as to the term for which the acronym stands, then compare your answers to the list in Section B
Section A
AFIS
AKA
ANV
ASAP
ASDIC
AWOL
BLOG
BMW
CD-ROM
CPAP
DBA
DOA
EEOC
ENIAC
FICO
FIFO
FLAK
FOIA
FUBAR
FYI
GULAG
HF/DF (huff-duff)
HTML
ICBM
IP
IPO
JPEG
KGB
LASER
LCD
LED
LUD
MAD
NAFTA
NASA
NATO
OSHA
PIN
POSH
POTUS
QUANTAS
RADAR
RSVP
SCUBA
SHAZAM
SIM
SPETSNAZ
TARDIS
TASER
TGV
TNT
USB
URL
ViCAP
VHS
VSOP
WAAF
WASP
WD-40®
WRNS
ZIP
Section B
| AFIS | Automated Fingerprint Identification System |
| AKA | Also Known As |
| ANV | Army of Northern Virginia |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| ASDIC | Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee |
| AWOL | Absent WithOut Leave |
| BLOG | weBLOG |
| BMW | Bavarian MotorWerks |
| CD-ROM | Compact Disc – Read Only Memory |
| CPAP | Continuos Positive Airway Pressure |
| DBA | Doing Business As |
| DOA | Dead On Arrival |
| EEOC | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission |
| ENIAC | Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator |
| FICO | Fair Isaac COrporation |
| FIFO | First In First Out |
| FLAK | FLugzeugAbwehrKanone |
| FOIA | Freedom of Information Act |
| FUBAR | F**ked Up Beyond All Recognition |
| FYI | For Your Information |
| GULAG | Glavnoye Upravleniye LAGerej (Main Camps’ Administration) |
| HF/DF (huff-duff) | High Frequency Direction Finder |
| HTML | HyperText Markup Language |
| ICBM | InterContinental Ballistic Missile |
| IP | Internet Protocol |
| IPO | Initial Public Offering |
| KGB | Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) |
| LASER | Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation |
| LCD | Liquid-Crystal Display |
| LED | Light-Emitting Diode |
| LUD | Local Usage Details |
| MAD | Mutual Assured Destruction |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
| Portable Document Format | |
| PIN | Personal Identification Number |
| POSH | Port Out, Starboard Home* |
| POTUS | President Of The United States |
| QUANTAS | QUeensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services |
| RADAR | RAdio Detection (or direction) And Ranging |
| RSVP | Répondez S’il Vous Plaît |
| SCUBA | Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus |
| SHAZAM | Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury (DC Comics, Captain Marvel) |
| SIM | Subscriber Identity Module |
| SPETSNAZ | voyska SPETSialnogo NAZnacheniya (Special Purpose Forces or Special Purpose Military Units) |
| TARDIS | Time And Relative Dimension In Space (BBC – Doctor Who) |
| TASER | Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, named his invention after his childhood hero Tom Swift: “Thomas [A] Swift’s Electric Rifle” by Victor Appleton |
| TGV | Train à Grande Vitesse, (France, high-speed train) |
| TNT | 2,4,6-TriNitroToluene |
| URL | Uniform Recsource Locator |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus |
| ViCAP | Violent Criminal Apprehension Program |
| VHS | Video Home System |
| VSOP | Very Superior Old Pale |
| WAAF | Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (UK, WWII) |
| WASP | White Anglo-Saxon Protestant |
| WD-40® | Water Displacement, 40th formula |
| WRNS | Women’s Royal Naval Service (UK, WWII, popularly and officially known as the Wrens) |
| ZIP | Zone Improvement Plan |
| *The most common attribution is that “Posh” derives from the “port out, starboard home” designation marked on tickets of passengers on P&O (Peninsula and Orient) passenger vessels traveling between Great Britain and India in colonial days. Both Britain and India are in the northern hemisphere so the port (left-hand side) cabins were mostly in the shade when traveling out (easterly) and the starboard ones when coming back. So the best and most expensive accommodations were POSH, hence the term. This derivation is disputed. |