If the abbreviated written form lends itself to be read as though it were an ordinary English word and sounds like an English word, it will be read like one. The worsds thus formed are called acronyms (from Gr acros- 'end' + onym 'name). This way of forming new words is becoming more and more popular in almost all fields of human activity, and especially in political and technical vocabulary: U.N.O., also UNO - United Nations Organisation, SALT - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The last example shows that acronyms are often homonymous to ordinary words; sometimes intentionally chosen so as to create certain associations. Thus, for example, the National Organization for Women is called NOW.

Typical of acronymic coinages in technical terminology are JATO, laser, maser and radar.

JATO, for example, means jet-assisted take off.

We shall mention an example from computer terminology - the rather ironic GIGO for garba ... Читать дальше »