Technically, a word that is formed by combining some parts (usually the first letters) of some other terms. For example,
modem is the acronym derived from
modulator/
demodulator. In everyday speech, the term is also used to refer to
initialisms, which are combinations of letters representing a longer phrase. For example,
CRT is an initialism for
cathode ray tube. The difference is that an acronym is pronounced as if it were a word rather than just a series of individual letters.
Newsgroups, chat rooms, and e-mail have spawned a rich set of acronyms and initialisms for common phrases. A few of the more common ones are listed below.
| Acronym/Initialism | Meaning |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| BTW | By The Way |
| FWIW | For What It's Worth |
| FYI | For Your Information |
| IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
| IMO | In My Opinion |
| LOL | Laughing Out Loud |
| ROTFL | Rolling On The Floor Laughing |
| RTFM | Read The #&!@ing Manual |
| TIA | Thanks In Advance |
Also see the page of text messaging abbreviations in the Quick Reference section of Webopedia.
