Abbreviations & Acronyms

AA............................................................................ Alcoholics Anonymous
AAA.................................................................... American Auto Association
AARP................................................. American Association of Retired People
ABC............................................................ American Broadcasting Company
ABC ...................................... Caribbean Islands: Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao
ABC ................................ South American Powers: Argentina, Brazil, and Chile
ABM............................................................................ Anti-ballistic missile
AC................................................................................. Alternating current
ACLU.............................................................. American Civil Liberties Union
AD....................................................... Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord)
ADHD..................................................Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder
AFI......................................................................... American Film Institute
AFL................................................................. American Federation of Labor
AFT............................................................ American Federation of Teachers
AI............................................................................. Amnesty International
AI............................................................................... Artificial intelligence
AICPA...................................American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
AIDS.................................................... Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
AKC........................................................................... American Kennel Club
AM............................................................................ Amplitude modulation
AMA................................................................ American Medical Association
ANC..................................................................... African National Congress
ANZUS................................................ Australia, New Zealand, United States
AP.................................................................................... Associated Press
ASCAP......................... American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
ASCII.............................. American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASPCA....................... American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
AU................................................................................... Astronomical unit
AWACS................................................. Airborne warning and control systems
AWOL......................................................................... Absent without leave
BASIC.................................... Beginner’s all-purpose symbolic instruction code
BATA........................................................ Bouquet, Aroma, Taste, Aftertaste
BC..........................................................................................Before Christ
BCE............................................................................... Before Common Era
BENELUX......................................................Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemberg
BLM................................................................... Bureau of Land Management
BPOE................................................. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
BTU............................................................................... British thermal unit
c.................................................................................... Circa (on or about)
CAD.......................................................................... Computer aided design
CAM.................................................................. Computer aided manufacture
CARE............................................ Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere
CBC........................................................................... Complete blood count
CBP................................................................Customs and Border Protection
CBS............................................................... Columbia Broadcasting System
CCC.................................................................... Civilian Conservation Corps
CDC.................................................................... Centers for Disease Control
CEO.......................................................................... Chief Executive Officer
CFC................................................................................ Chlorofluorocarbon
CFS....................................................................... Chronic fatigue syndrome
CIA..................................................................... Central Intelligence Agency
CIO........................................................ Congress of Industrial Organizations
CIS...................................................... Commonwealth of Independent States
CNA..................................................................... Certified Nurse’s Assistant
COBOL................................................... Common business oriented language
COLA................................................. Cost of living allowance (or adjustment)
COO.......................................................................... Chief Operating Officer
CORE................................................................... Congress of Racial Equality
CPR................................................................. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
CPU........................................................................... Central processing unit
CRT................................................................................... Cathode ray tube
CSA................................................................. Confederate States of America
CSS........................................................................... Cascading style Sheets
CTW............................................................... Children’s Television Workshop
DAR...................................................... Daughters of the American Revolution
DARPA...........................................Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency
DAV.................................................................... Disabled American Veterans
DC.......................................................................................... Direct current
DDS......................................................................... Doctor of Dental Surgery
DEA........................................................................ Drug Enforcement Agency
DFC....................................................................... Distinguished Flying Cross
DNA............................................................................. Deoxyribonucleic acid
DSC.................................................................... Distinguished Service Cross
DTP................................................................. Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis
DVD.................................................................................. Digital video disc
EAS..........................................................................Emergency Alert System
EEC................................................................ European Economic Community
EEG............................................................................ Electroencephalogram
EKG.................................................................................. Electrocardiogram
EMT................................................................. Emergency medical technician
EOEC............................................. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission
EPA.............................................................. Environmental Protection Agency
ERA........................................................................ Equal Rights Amendment
ESOP.............................................................. Employee stock ownership plan
ESP.......................................................................... Extrasensory perception
EV............................................................................................ Era Vulgaris
FAA............................................................... Federal Aviation Administration
FCC....................................................... Federal Communications Commission
FDA................................................................. Food and Drug Administration
FDIC..................................................... Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FEMA.................................................. Federal Emergency Management Agency
FHA............................................................... Federal Housing Administration
FICA.......................................................... Federal Insurance Contribution Act
FM.............................................................................. Frequency modulation
FOIA.....................................................................Freedom of Information Act
FTC....................................................................... Federal Trade Commission
FTD...................................................................... Florist Transworld Delivery
GAO...................................................................... General Accounting Office
GAR.................................................................... Grand Army of the Republic
GATT.................................................. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GI.................................................................................... Government Issue
GIF................................................................... Graphics Interchange Formula
GMT............................................................................ Greenwich Mean Time
GNP........................................................................... Gross National Product
GOP.................................................................................... Grand Old Party
GPS....................................................................... Global positioning system
GSA............................................................... General Services Administration
HBO................................................................................... Home Box Office
HIV ............................................................... Human immunodeficiency virus
HMO............................................................ Health Maintenance Organization
HMS........................................................................... His/Her Majesty’s Ship
HRE................................................................................ Holy Roman Empire
HRH.......................................................................... His/Her Royal Highness
HTML.................................................................. Hyper text markup language
HRT..................................................................Hormone replacement therapy
HTTP................................................................... Hyper text transfer protocol
HUAC................................................ House Un-American Activities Committee
IBC.....................................................................Inuit Broadcasting Company
IBM.............................................................. International Business Machines
ICBM........................................................... Inter-continental ballistic missile
ICC............................................................. Interstate Commerce Commission
ICC......................................................................International Criminal Court
IED.................................................................... Improvised expolsive device
IMF.................................................................... International Monetary Fund
IOC............................................................. International Olympic Committee
IPO.............................................................................. Initial public offering
IRA.................................................................. Individual retirement account
IRA............................................................................. Irish Republican Army
ISBN........................................................ International standard book number
ITT...................................................... International Telephone and Telegraph
JAG.......................................................................... Judge Advocate General
JD..............................................................................................Juris Doctor
Gif......................................................................Graphic Interchange formula
JPEG……........................................................ Joint Photographic Experts Group
LASER............................ Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
LCD.............................................................................. Liquid crystal display
LED............................................................................... Light emitting diode
LNG............................................................................. Liquefied natural gas
LOX....................................................................................... Liquid oxygen
LPN......................................................................... Licensed Practical Nurse
LSD...................................................................... Lysergic acid diethylamide
M*A*S*H*......................................................... Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
MFN.............................................................................. Most Favored Nation
MFT..................................................................Marriage and family therapist
MGM............................................................................ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
MOCA............................................ Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles)
MODEM........................................................................ Modulate/demodulate
MOMA................................................................ Museum of Modern Art (NYC)
MRI.................................................................... Magnetic resonance imaging
MSG.......................................................................... Monosodium glutamate
NAACP.................... National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NAFTA.................................................. North American Free Trade Agreement
NASA........................................ National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASCAR............................ National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing
NASDAQ ...........National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
NATO......................................................... North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NBC............................................................... National Broadcasting Company
NCIS........................................................ Naval Criminal Investigative Service
NEA................................................................ National Education Association
NEA............................................................. National Endowment for the Arts
NGO..............................................................Non-Governmental Organization
NIMBY........................................................................... Not in my back yard
NLRB............................................................. National Labor Relations Board
NOW.......................................................... National Organization for Women
NPR............................................................................ National Public Radio
NRA............................................................ National Recovery Administration
NRA...................................................................... National Rifle Association
NSA............................................................. National Security Administration
NTSB.................................................... National Transportation Safety Board
NYSE..................................................................... New York Stock Exchange
OAS............................................................. Organization of American States
OAU................................................................. Organization of African Unity
OCD................................................................Obsessive-compulsive disorder
OED....................................................................... Oxford English Dictionary
OEM............................................................ Original equipment manufacturer
OEOB ............................................................... Old Executive Office building
OPEC........................................ Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
OSHA............................................ Occupational Safety and Health Association
OSS..................................................................... Office of Strategic Services
OTC................................................................................... Over the counter
P & L.................................................................................... Profit and loss
PAC...................................................................... Political action committee
PBS.................................................................... Public Broadcasting System
PETA........................................... People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
PIN................................................................ Personal identification number
PLO............................................................ Palestine Liberation Organization
PMI.................................................................... Private mortgage insurance
pp.................................................................................................... Page
PTA.................................................................... Parent-Teacher Association
PTSD................................................................Post Trumatic Stress Disorder
PVC.................................................................................. Polyvinyl chloride
P’s & Q’s............................................................................ Pints and quarts
QVC................................................................... Quality, value, convenience
RADAR............................................................... Radio ranging and detecting
RAF..................................................................................... Royal Air Force
RAM........................................................................ Random access memory
RCA................................................................. Radio Corporation of America
RCMP............................................................ Royal Canadian Mounted Police
REM............................................................................ Rapid eye movement
RKO............................................................................ Radio Keith Orpheum
RNA................................................................................... Ribonucleic acid
ROI............................................................................ Return on investment
ROM............................................................................... Read only memory
RSS...................................................................... Really Simple Syndication
RSVP.............................................. Repondez, s’il vous plait (Please respond)
SALT............................................................. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SAM............................................................................ Surface-to-air missile
SAR............................................................. Sons of the American Revolution
SAT........................................................................ Scholastic aptitude test
SBA............................................................... Small Business Administration
SCUBA..................................... Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
SDI.................................................................... Strategic Defense Initiative
SEAL (as in Navy Seal)........................................................Sea, Air and Land
SEATO..................................................... Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
SEC....................................................... Securities and Exchange Commission
SETI.................................................... Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
SONAR............................................................ Sound navigation and ranging
SPF..............................................................................Sun protection factor
SSR........................................................................ Soviet Socialist Republic
START.......................................................... Strategic Arms Reductions Talks
SUV............................................................................... Sport utility vehicle
TKO............................................................................... Technical knockout
TNT..................................................................................... Trinitrotoluene
TVA................................................................... Tennessee Valley Authority
UAE........................................................................... United Arab Emirates
UAR............................................................................ United Arab Republic
UHF............................................................................. Ultra high frequency
UL.......................................................................... Underwriters Laboratory
UNCLE............................... United Network Command for Law and Enforcement
UPC..........................................................................Universal Product Code
UPI..................................................................... United Press International
URL....................................................................... Uniform resource locator
USO.................................................................. United Service Organization
USSR....................................................... Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
UV.......................................................................................... Ultra-violet
VAT.................................................................................. Value added tax
VHF............................................................................. Very high frequency
VHS............................................................................. Video home system
VOA................................................................................. Voice of America
WAAC............................................................ Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
WAAF................................................................ Women’s Auxiliary Air Force
WAC.......................................................................... Women’s Army Corps
WASP............................................................. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
WCTU.................................................. Women’s Christian Temperance Union
WHO................................................................... World Health Organization
WTO..................................................................... World Trade Organization
WWF............................................................................ World Wildlife Fund
WWF.................................................................. World Wrestling Federation
WWP......................................................................Wounded Warrior Project
WWW............................................................................... World Wide Web
WYSIWYG....................................................... What you see is what you get
XML.................................................................. Extensible markup language
YUPPIE.................................................. Young upwardly mobile professional
ZIP (in zip code) .......................................................Zone improvement plan