What Are Acronyms

Acronyms are a form of abbreviation. Similar to initialisms, acronyms use the first few letters of a word to create an abbreviation. The abbreviation for each word in the phrase is combined, to form an acronym. When written, the brain has to solve the acronym to fully decode the message.

The Problem

Nowadays, there are over 7000 commonly used acronyms in everyday use; some of which originate from technical and specialist terminology, although the majority of common acronyms nowadays originate from 'text language' and similar. This forces the brain to work more, and makes it harder for it to decode the message.

With so many acronyms in use, it becomes difficult to remember each one, and therefore it is easy to mis-understand text. It becomes even more complicated when acronyms conflict, and can have several meaning; for example, whilst LOL is commonly know as meaning 'Laugh Out Loud', it also can be interpreted as 'Lots of Love'.

You can use this tool to decode and solve an acronym. If there are more than one match for a search, all the matches will be listed, in order of relevance.

As a bit of light enjoyment, here is the acronymizer. It takes a string, for example a name, and creates acronyms from parts of that string. Darren, for instance, when acronymized, turns into "Directory Agent Round Robin Europa Norm". Its a lot of fun, testing different peoples names, including celebrities.

Alternatively, you can access an acronym decoder on any webpage by using this Acronym Decoder bookmarklet. Simply, drag the link to your bookmark menu or toolbar to save. To use, highlight (select with the cursor) any acronym on any webpage, and then click on the bookmarklet from within your browser. A new window will open containing the meaning of the acronym.