An Acronym By Any Other Name
The English Language is an amazing thing. It has the knack of making complicated things sound simple, changing meanings to suit the times and keeping us up with the latest lingo. And then, there are acronyms.
Acronyms are words formed from parts of other words or phrases that we use in order to make technical terms more understandable by everyone. For example, NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration; AT&T stands for American Telegraph & Telephone Company — you get the point.
You may also have noticed that certain initials are commonly used or recognized by one or all of the following: police, military, government, scientific and academic research, children's book publishers; sport teams; bands and musicians; and in the corporate world.
Acronyms are a great marketing tool. From start-up businesses to super stars it is a great way to make your name-brand stand out from everyone else in the crowd. But not everyone has an army of people doing their word-of-mouth marketing for them. In fact, some employers ban this practice as they think it is considered unprofessional or childish.
But what is the real harm in an acronym for a company name? Would you consider The Coca-Cola Company childish to use its much more commonly known and requested acronym, Coke? Or how about ADP, which stands for Automatic Data Processing, while they may have gotten away with that one it would be hard to imagine them being taken seriously if they went by ASD — Automatic Star Die! I rest my case.
So whether you are starting your own business or marketing your existing one here is a list of 25 of the best acronyms in use today. This way you can find one that's appropriate for your business needs. (And no, I did not include NASA or AT&T. That would be too easy, I think you can handle at least one or two letters without requiring further illustration.)
Big thanks to Brian J. Grossman for his original article on the subject and to Google for assisting me in putting up this list of the best 25 acronyms available.
Acronyms: The Short List
Please use these responsibly, they are great tools in advertising and other kinds of marketing. Feel free to add a comment after each acronym if you want to share any personal experience with it or another interesting factoid about it. I know there is lots of that out there! Enjoy!
APPLE: Stands for Astronomy Professor Peter L. Elliott
BAGELS: Stands for Big-Assed Galaxies for an image of a galaxy found with the Hubble Space Telescope that shows a distorted ring of hot young blue stars, suggesting a collision of two galaxies — which is exactly what the astronomers think happened. The ring looks like an eye staring straight-on at you. (WebExhibits)
BOLO: Stands for Be on the Lookout or Borderline Organized Laundry List. A term used by law enforcement to signify that there is possible criminal activity on a person. Example: 'BOLO for our target' (WebExhibits)
BUBBA: Stands for Brother in Bush. Used by troops in the Gulf War to identify someone from Alabama. A respondent on an Armed Forces Network radio show said that most Bubbas are from Alabama and Mississippi because the term "brother" is more commonly used there than it is elsewhere, and Bush is a common last name. Said one caller: "I'm from Northern Louisiana, but I can't say I've ever met any Bubbas." (Wikipedia)
CACAO: An image at the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope shows a ring of blue stars whirling around an ancient black hole. The blue stars were found to be material that had been pulled into the black hole, but which was now being released again. A possible explanation is that material around the black hole was shredded way back when the black hole was born and now this shredded material got sucked into its center. But another possibility is that the shredded materials may have been ejected by an out pressure in a nearby star system. (WebExhibits)
CAD: Stands for Computer Aided Design, a term used to denote any software programming language; CAD files come in several variations of "CATIA" or "Pro/Engineer", etc. The technology behind these various software languages are proprietary, each of which can be purchased separately. The most popular versions are AutoCAD and SolidWorks.
CAM: Stands for Camera and a lot of artists and photo hobbyists use this acronym to refer to the ability of digital imaging systems to produce sharp and high-quality photographs. A common reason given for using the term CAM instead of just digital camera is because there is no better choice — it just sounds better! (WebExhibits)
CHAP: Stands for CHappe, which translates as "Catcher" in French. (Not to be confused with CHiP, which is a doggie.)
CRAP: Stands for the Combined Razor Clam and Oyster Project. An initiative of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. A bivalve that looks like a clam but lives in sand or gravel is called a razor clam. (WebExhibits)
CSF: Stands for Cerebrospinal Fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord and helps to protect them. It is clear in color, but contains some proteins including antibodies against bacteria and fungi, so it is thought to be involved in defending against infections and other diseases that can affect the brain. CSF also carries nutrients to the brain, such as glucose for energy and amino acids for protein synthesis. (WebExhibits)
CUNT: Stands for the Cambridge University Network Transport, a high-speed network that can be used by any two points on the Internet. (WebExhibits)
DEWS: Stands for Density From WISE Survey. It is an image taken with NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The cool thing about this was that it showed how each galaxy in the universe was moving as a function of distance from us. It turns out that galaxies are moving away from us at an accelerating rate. This is the first time this was measured in space. (WebExhibits)
DIP: Stands for Diploid Inbred Parents, which means used as a breeding stock for breeding diploid hybrids. (WebExhibits)
DOGS: Stands for Dog-On-a-Leash, which is common in San Francisco's Castro district where dogs are allowed to run loose without restrictions. (Wikipedia)
EATON: A type of rock found in deep veins in Ontario and Québec that was named after Thomas H.
Conclusion:
These come from some of the best resources out there. They are great for your business and will really help you get the word out about your business. Be sure to check them out.
If I missed any nice acronyms, please leave a comment and I will add it to the list! If you know any better acronyms, please feel free to share! :}
What are your favorite acronyms? Please share them in the comments section below so we can all learn something new together! And thanks for stopping by to read today's post. Until next time… Happy Marketing!!! 🙂 Graham K.