Arnold Zwicky's Blog

*abbreviation postings

not here: truncations of complex expressions, passing mentions of specific abbreviations

for beheading as a kind of abbreviation, see the Page
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/linguistics-notes/beheading/]

☛ GP, 5/24/04: KiloGhits and MegaGhits: measuring web frequency:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000951.html]
proposed abbreviations for web searches

☛ PR, 5/24/04: Ghits – and Whits?:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000954.html]
proposed abbreviations for web searches

☛ GP, 5/25/04: Webhits on Google per gigapage: A replacement proposal:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000958.html]
ordinary abbreviations: for physical units; proposed abbreviations for web searches

☛ ML, 4/30/05: Ambiguity:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002113.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: interpreting them in context

☛ ML, 6/25/05: The ships, it shuts everything up:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002264.html]
clippings of initial material (“back-end abbreviations”)

☛ ML, 6/27/05: Bizzerk:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002269.html]
clippings of initial material (“back-end abbreviations”)

☛ BZ, 12/30/05: From Nabisco to NaNoWriMo:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002734.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: blend acronyms

☛ GP, 1/13/06: No tattoed acronym:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002760.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: terminology

☛ GP, 1/19/06: A prescriptivist rant? Get a clue:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002768.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: terminology

☛ GP, 6/28/06: There’s no battle, Morgan!:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003299.html]
not clippings: till, though

☛ ML, 8/21/06: Term for shifting plural s to the end of initialisms and acronyms?:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003484.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: plurals

☛ GP, 8/21/06: No plural shifting term:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003486.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: plurals

☛ AZ, 9/3/06: University name bulletins:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003537.html]
alphabetic abbreviations in university names

☛ AZ, 9/5/06: The the in The Ohio State University:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003548.html]
with note on the abbreviation tOSU

☛ AZ, 9/7/06: Orphan initialisms:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003555.html]

☛ AZ, 9/9/06: Abbreviatory oddities:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003562.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: orphan abbreviations

☛ ML, 10/20/06: Annals of self-censorship: Avoiding the F-letter:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003692.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: taboo avoidance within them

☛ ML, 4/8/07: Hed, dek, lede, graf, tk: Live with it:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004380.html]
assorted newsroom abbreviations

☛ ML, 8/3/07: Wev:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004781.html]
clipping wev ‘whatever’

☛ AZ, 8/25/07: Another year of taboo avoidance:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004855.html]
avoidance of effing

☛ AZ, 9/17/07: (an)arthrous abbreviations:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004923.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: arthrousness, initialisms vs. acronyms

☛ GP, 1/25/08: Lower-cased initialisms:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005347.html]
alphabetic abbreviations: upper/lower case in acronyms

☛ BZ, 9/18/08: Shattering the illusions of texting:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=609]
abbreviations (of many types) in, or not in, texting

☛ AZ, 10/30/08: Periods:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=779]
alphabetic abbreviations: periods

☛ GP, 11/17/08: The WAGs back home:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=835]
WAGs ‘wives and girlfriends’

☛ ML, 12/28/08: Filled pauses and faked audio:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=956]
[in AMZ comment] upper case in acronyms

☛ GP, 2/5/09: Pakigate, Sootygate, Gollygate:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1110]
clippings

☛ BZ, 3/20/09: Oh no, it’s ngmoco:):
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1254]
alphabetic abbreviations: acronym-initialism hybrid

☛ GP, 5/16/09: Egg blast:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1439]
[in comments] various clippings

☛ 5/18/19: Hybrid initial-letter abbreviations:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/05/18/hybrid-initial-letter-abbreviations/]
alphabetic abbreviations: acronym-initialism hybrids

☛ 5/19/09: Coerced acronyms:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/05/19/coerced-acronyms/]
alphabetic abbreviations: acronyms

☛ BZ, : 6/23/09: The first proposal for “Ms.” (1901):
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1533]
ordinary abbreviations: periods

☛ 7/4/09: Periods and type size:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/07/04/periods-and-type-size/]
alphabetic abbreviations: periods

☛ ML, 7/24/09: Write like me?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1599]
[in comments] vs., vs, v., v

☛ GP, 7/31/09: Coming August 7:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1614]
ordinary abbreviations: periods

☛ ML, 8/3/09: Do not leave if you can help:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1626]
codes [in telegraphs]

☛ AZ, 8/4/09: Unidiomatic:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1634]
clippings [mollymooly comment on clippings with –s: maths, turps, meths]

☛ 8/29/09: Inventory of postings on abbreviation:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/08/29/inventory-of-postings-on-abbreviation/]

☛ 9/1/09: Acronyms:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/09/01/acronyms/]
terminology

☛ 9/20/09: More initialism complexities:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2009/09/20/more-initialism-complexities/]
eye initalisms, regular initialisms, orphan initialisms

☛ 2/12/10: Acronym fun:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2010/02/12/acronym-fun/]
taser

☛ 10/18/12: For short:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/10/18/for-short/]
clipping, initialism, acronym

☛ 3/24/13: Cyanide and Happiness roundup:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/03/24/cyanide-and-happiness-roundup/]
LOL treated as acronym

☛ 4/16/13: Initialistic ambiguity:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/04/16/initialistic-ambiguity/]
CBT

☛ 5/1/13: Acronym of the week:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/05/01/acronym-of-the-week/]
acronym Visconti

☛ 8/24/14: An orphan initialism:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/08/24/an-orphan-initialism/]
YMCA as orphan initialism

☛ 10/26/14: On the orphan initialism front:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/10/26/on-the-orphan-initialism-front/]
PFLAG as orphan initialism

☛ 7/2/15: Initialisms, raunchy and not:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/07/02/initialisms-raunchy-and-not/]
BJ for Beijing, blowjob, names

☛ 8/6/15: Coordinate initialisms:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/08/06/coordinate-initialisms/]
initialisms of the form x&y

☛ 8/23/15: Kraken! And GEICO!:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/08/23/kraken-and-geico/]
the acronym GEICO

☛ 9/21/15: Amber 2:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/09/21/amber-2/]
the backronym AMBER alert and the (carefully devised) acronym (Navy) SEALs, both all-caps

☛ 2/22/16: The pronoun strip:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/02/22/the-pronoun-strip/]
clipping pro for professional or prostitute

☛ 5/25/16: Ballad of beef:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/05/25/ballad-of-beef/]
three-letter country abbreviations (USA, CAN, GBR, AUS)

☛ 5/28/16: The snail days of summer:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/05/28/the-snail-days-of-summer/]
clipping ‘za for pizza

☛ 6/12/16: Rainbows and b8r bait:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/06/13/rainbows-and-b8r-bait/]
clippings bate and bator

☛ 7/9/16: Two cat cartoons:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/07/09/two-cat-cartoons/]
#1 with Cat for Caterpillar machine

☛ 11/13/16: Lukas is back!:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/11/13/lukas-is-back/]
truncation: vegan leather > vegan

☛ 12/9/16: NPO:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/09/npo/]
medical abbreviations

☛ 12/23/16: and the horse you rode in on:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/23/and-the-art-horse-you-rode-in-on/]
euphemistic abbreviation

☛ 12/23/16: Mac Daddy Santa:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/23/mac-daddy-santa/]
mackeral ‘pimp’ > mack, mac

☛ 1/1/17: Morning names for the new year:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/01/01/morning-names-for-the-new-year/]
nickname Ozzy / Ozzie

☛ 3/2/17: Annals of p.r. pitches:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/03/02/annals-of-p-r-pitches/]
initialism SEO

☛ 3/27/17: JoBroButts, Hills Bros. coffee, and gaybros:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/03/27/jobrobutts-hills-bros-coffee-and-gaybros/]
acronymic “blend” JoBro; Bros. for Brothers

☛ 4/17/17: Chub and chums in the morning
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/04/17/chub-and-chums-in-the-morning/]
chubby> > chub

☛ 4/25/17: You can call me Al:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/04/25/you-can-call-me-al/]
names of the form /mIni Cæl/: acronyms, clippings, nicknames

☛ 7/25/17: From Tex-Mex to naked rugby:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/07/25/from-tex-mex-to-naked-rugby/]
abbreviation in Spanish nicknames (and English too)

☛ 8/30/17: Reduced questions:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/08/30/reduced-questions/]
NP reduced questions

☛ 9/1/17: BBC for Labor Day:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/09/01/bbc-for-labor-day/]
the initialism BBC, in various senses

☛ 11/15/17: Wet words:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/11/15/wet-words/]
clipping kidney > kid (in tap a kidney)

☛ 4/14/18: New frontiers in POPs:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/04/14/new-frontiers-in-pops/]
letter-based onomatopoeia; the initialism O.C.D.

☛ 4/23/18: A war of initialism:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/04/23/a-war-of-initialism/]
initialisms, orphan initialisms, reinterpreted initialisms

☛ 5/1/18: Initialisms off the rails:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/05/04/initialisms-off-the-rails/]
xkcd on unpacking initialisms

☛ 5/10/18: slide in(to) (y)our DM’s:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/05/10/slide-into-your-dms/]
slang initialism DM

☛ 5/12/18: For Mothers Day:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/05/12/for-mothers-day/]
motherfucker clipped to mother

☛ 7/3/18: World UFO Day:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/07/03/world-ufo-day/]
UFO as an initialism

☛ 8/25/18: Fantasy originalism:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/08/25/fantasy-originalism/]
pronunciation of the initialism GIF

☛ 10/20/18: She called herself Lil’:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/10/20/she-called-herself-lil/]
Lil as a nickname for Lillian; Li’l and Lil’ as shortenings of little

☛ 10/24/18: Three exercises in cartoon understanding:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/10/24/three-exercises-in-cartoon-understanding/]
PACER as acronym

☛ 11/29/18: A grotesque word:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/11/29/a-grotesque-word/]
clippings gar and Gar

☛ 1/20/19: One more January 20th penguin:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/01/20/one-more-january-20th-penguin/]
orphan initialism CIBC (Canadian banking company)

☛ 2/6/19: The Pearls:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/02/06/three-pearls/]
nads for gonads

☛ 2/14/19: Revisiting 26: LGBT etc. etc.:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/02/14/revisiting-26-lgbt-etc-etc/]
initialism for the domain of sexuality, identity, and practices

☛ 2/21/19: For gay penguins, science, and Canada!::
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/02/21/for-gay-penguins-science-and-canada/]
retard as clipping

☛ 5/18/19: Ostentatiously playful allusions:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/05/18/ostentatiously-playful-allusions/]
OPA as acronym (also as initialism); EEQ as acronym

☛ 6/29/19: A bit more reaping:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/06/29/a-bit-more-reaping/]
gram as clipping of Instagram

☛ 8/31/19: Come lay your carnal weapons by:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/08/31/come-lay-your-carnal-weapons-by/]
carny as clipping of carnival (+ -y)

☛ 9/12/19: BOY Party!:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/09/12/boy-party/]
BOY as acronym (here, for Beginning of Year); acronyms vs. initialisms (like BYO)

☛ 10/25/19: B.Z.P.D.:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/10/25/b-z-p-d/]
police department initialisms

☛ 11/3/19: Another BYOB:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2019/11/03/another-byob/]
initialisms, clippings, conventional abbreviations

☛ 1/8/20: There was a singer had a dog:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/01/08/there-was-a-singer-had-a-dog/]
initialistic abbreviation NGO ‘nongovernmental organization’

☛ 1/27/20: Predicative / locational:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/01/26/predicative-locational/]
(metonymic) short-form locational expressions

☛ 2/9/20: The rose parade:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/02/09/the-rose-parade/]
the verb comp ‘provide for free’ from complimentary

☛ 4/17/20: Quick shot: a job title:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/04/17/quick-shot-a-job-title/]
ER, doc, per diem, locum, temp

☛ 6/23/20: For Alan Turing:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/06/23/for-alan-turing/]
orphan initialism NPL

☛ 6/24/20: Annals of ambiguity: I feel like making it rough from Schrödinger:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/06/24/annals-of-ambiguity-i-feel-like-making-it-rough-for-schrodinger]
signs and labels

☛ 8/5/20: Caterpillars spinning platters:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/08/05/caterpillars-spinning-platters/]
initialism DJ

☛ 1/31/21: Frequently asked questions:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/01/31/frequently-asked-questions/]
initialism (perhaps sometimes acronym) FAQ

☛ 3/2/21: The lost years for lgbt seniors:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/03/02/the-lost-years-for-lgbt-seniors/]
periodophilia

☛ 3/18/21: A jointed-limb portmanteau and a sugary front-clipping:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/03/18/a-jointed-limb-portmanteau-and-a-sugary-front-clipping/]
clipping

☛ 3/25/21: Zippo, the comic strip:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/03/25/zippo-the-comic-strip/]
clipping

☛ 4/28/21: Pictographs for dogs:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/04/28/pictographs-for-dogs/]
telegraphic syntax on signs

☛ 9/29/21: Nobody expects the Yinglish interjection:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/09/29/nobody-expects-the-yinglish-interjection/]
abbreviation of oy vey to oy