[ENG] Se stai imparando l’inglese, devi conoscere questi acronimi
Have you guys ever wondered why Americans use so many acronyms?
Or better yet, have you ever been on Instagram or Facebook and seen the hashtags: #yolo #fml #lmao #lmbl #smh?
We’ve all sat there, scratching our heads asking WTF does that mean?!
Acronyms are a way of simplification. In 2019, we’re constantly looking to simplify our lives.
Take smartphones for example. Smartphones get us through our daily lives, serving as our GPS (another acronym), MP3 players, telephones, and numerous other functions. We can use them to check out what’s being broadcast on CNN, or to quickly find information about our tax payment.
Like smartphones we use acronyms to simplify and make life easier, by requiring less time to write, and allowing us more time to do other things, even if that only gives us 3 extra seconds.
For example, we can take a 16 letter phrase, “as soon as possible,” and shorten it to 4 letters, “asap.” Does it save us a ton of time? No. But it makes life easier, even if only for a few seconds.
Generally, we now have smartphones with full QWERTY keyboards, which makes texting much easier. Before the 2000s, most cell phones that were text enabled had a program called abc or T9. These were two programs based on the numbers 1-0 on a standard phone, where the number 1 was composed of the letters A, B, and C.
In order to text the words, “how are you,” it was necessary to press the numbers corresponding to the correct letters.
For example, for the letter “C,” you would have to press 1-1-1.
This era was when acronyms and abbreviations began to grow immensely, soon spreading also into verbal communicative language.
When do you use acronyms in everyday English?
Some students ask me if acronyms are okay to use in everyday English.
My response (as usual) is, “It depends.”
It always depends on your audience and the situation.
When writing a 20 page thesis for university, I wouldn’t recommend using acronyms as the idea of the thesis is to explain something in deep detail.
What about in a business email?
Well, for this, again, I must say that you need to know your audience.
However, acronyms are frequently used in business lingo. ROI, CTA, CEO; these are all very common acronyms, among many others used in business, frequently used in business articles, emails, and other publications.
Again, it’s important to know your audience, the people you’re speaking to, and to use acronyms that are appropriate for that particular situation.
With friends?
With friends go for it! New acronyms are created daily!
I constantly find myself browsing Instagram or my Facebook feed and finding acronyms that I’d never known existed.
And acronyms don’t stop in text messages, oh no. Some acronyms are now used frequently in spoken English, for example AKA, BYOB, ASAP, BFF, DIY, and many others.
Try to learn some new acronyms that are standards in American English.
Start by finding all of the acronyms I’ve included in this article, including those in the photo, and finding out exactly what they mean (there are at least 20).
Then try to include acronyms in your next text to your English teacher, and see what they say. UR GR8. UCDI (You can do it!)
