ACRONYMS are words formed from the initial letters (usually one, sometimes more) of other words such as AIDS that has formed from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and / or LASER formed from the first letters of the words Amplification radiation stimulated emission light.

Some of the other popular acronyms are:

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Cultural and Educational Organization (there are several acronyms related to the UN)

SAARC; South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

AIIMS: All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

CAD: Computer-aided design.

COBOL: Common Business Oriented Language.

ESRO: European Organization for Space Research.

HUDCO: Housing and Urban Development Corporation.

JIPMER: Jawaharlal Institute for Medical Education and Research

NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA)

(The list is endless. Readers are kindly asked to consult a good general knowledge book for a fairly comprehensive list of acronyms)

From the above examples, it can be seen that the essential characteristics of an acronym are:

1. They must be formed only from the initial letters of the other words.

2. They must form a complete word. There should be no end point between the letters.

3. As you type, all letters must be in uppercase.

4. They do not need to be related to the meaning of the parent’s words (Ref AIDS and parent’s words).

But in practice, this concept is often misused by not following some / all of the rules of acronym characteristics. For example, in the sentence “I am an MBBS”, MBBS is not an acronym because there are dots between the letters. Also ‘Viscom’ (Visual Communications) is not an acronym because the content is not individual letters and is written in lowercase. Neither Rs (rupees) nor Mike (Michael) are acronyms and are just abbreviations.

I wish to record a very crude use of this concept even at the international level.

There is a widespread saying that NEWS is an acronym for North, East, West, and South, which is absolutely wrong. News is a separate word that means new events. It goes without saying that old events are not news, but only history. They say that information is collected from four directions, and therefore the four abbreviated directions are called NEWS. That is not correct because not all letters are capitalized and amplification does not need to have a similar meaning with abbreviated words. Second, there are more addresses than the four mentioned. The news is also obtained from space.

Another misuse of this concept is the word LIONS. People who belong to Lions clubs International record that the amplification of LIONS is “Freedom, intelligence and security of our nations”, the meaning of which only God knows. If the dot “LIONS” means the lion animal king, then how are the members’ children known as LION’S CLUBS and their life partner, the Lion ladies? Are they the ladies of ‘Freedom, Intelligence and the security of our nation’? A more important observation is that it is LION’S CLUBS INTERNATIONAL and not merely national. Hence the question of ‘The security of our nation’ does not arise. It is clear that they are delineating some words to accommodate the initials.

Thus, Lions clubs are crucifying English words with immature translation. (The author of this article was an active LION member for twenty years and has spent a significant portion of his savings on social services through LIONS clubs.)

Some people create their own abbreviations and extensions. In college student elections, we have noticed this usage frequently. Suppose a contestant’s name is Sita; there will be signs that say Elect and select S (sincere), I (smart), T (Talented), A (Active) and so on, as if Sita were an acronym for the four words mentioned. What if the opponents write as Sleepers, Intriguing, Torture, and Tough?

Hence, it is my fervent appeal to students and scholars of the English language to desist from crucifying the language by misusing this concept of acronyms. Acronyms are used for brevity and clarity. They are also sometimes used as “secret code”. Let’s not misuse this concept for narrow purposes