acronyms

> acronyms
acronyms, like some abbreviations, are formed from the initial letters of several words. Unlike abbreviations, however, acronyms are pronounced as words rather than as just a series of letters. For example OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries) is pronounced o-pek and is thus an acronym, unlike USA (United States of America) which is pronounced as a series of letters and not as a word (oo-sa or yoo-sa) and is thus an abbreviation.
Acronyms are written without full stops, as in UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Mostly acronyms are written in capital letters, as in NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). However, very common acronyms, such as Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), are written with just an initial capital, the rest of the letters being lower case.
Acronyms that refer to a piece of scientific or technical equipment are written like ordinary words in lower-case letters, as "laser" (light amplification by simulated emission of radiation).
A fashion originated in the mid 1980s for inventing acronyms relating to lifestyles or categories of society. These included "yuppie", also spelt "yuppy", which is an acronym of "young urban (or upwardly mobile) professional". "Yuppie" became an established part of the language, as to a certain extent did "nimby" (not in my back yard), an acronym that indicates people's reluctance to have any new developments, such as a hostel for ex-prisoners, in the vicinity of their homes, even if they are in theory in general favour of such developments. The majority of acronyms coined at this time were short-lived and are no longer commonly used. These included "dinky" ("dual or double income, no kids") and "woopie" ("well-off older person"). The fashion in forming such acronyms became rather silly, resulting in such words as "pippie" ("person inheriting parents" property") and "whanny" ("we have a nanny").