Abbreviations

Let me point out a couple of things. First, although A.S.A.P. is considered an abbreviation here, it is also commonly known as an acronym too. Some people just say ASAP instead of reading each letter out individually.

The acronym R.S.V.P. is commonly used on party invitations such as a wedding when the bride and groom wants you to respond back on whether or not you'll be attending. It basically means, please respond.

Are there any other abbreviations or acronyms that may be useful to know?

Abbreviations are everywhere. We use and see them more than we know. So what are they?

Abbreviations are shortened forms of a word or phrase by taking the first letter of each word and pronounced one word at a time (some call this Initialism). For example, we use  "A.M." and "P.M" a lot when talking about time. These are known as abbreviations. Both of them actually stand for Latin words Ante Meridian (A.M) and Post Meridian (P.M), meaning before and after midday.

A lot of people ask what the difference is between an abbreviation and an acronym. An acronym is a form of abbreviation that can actually be read as a word, such as IKEA, NASA, NATO, AIDS. However, you can't read A.M. or P.M as a word, therefore these are not acronyms.

Below are some common abbreviations that would be quite helpful to understand.