Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters:NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization Scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus Laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation Taser: Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters Amphetamine: alpha-methyl-phenethylamine Gestapo: Geheime Staatspolizei('secret state police') Interpol: International Criminal Police Organization Nabisco: National Biscuit Company Pronounced as a word, containing a mixture of initial and non-initial letters AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome Necco: New England Confectionery Company Radar: radio detection and ranging Pronounced as a word or as a string of letters, depending on speaker or context (Initialism vs. acronym) FAQ: ([fk] or ef-ay-cue) frequently asked questionIRA: When used for Individual Retirement Account, can be pronounced as letters (i-ar-a) or as a word [ar]. SAT(s): ([st] or ess-ay-tee) (previously)Scholastic Achievement (or Aptitude) Test(s) (US) orStandard Assessment Test(s) (UK),now claimed not to stand for anything.[12] SQL: ([sikwl] or ess-cue-el) Structured Query Language. Pronounced as a combination of spelling out and a word CD-ROM: (cee-dee-[rm]) Compact Disc read-only memoryI UPAC: (i-u-[pk]) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry JPEG: (jay-[p]) Joint Photographic Experts Group SFMOMA: (ess-ef-[mom]) San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtInitialisms are pronounced only as a string of letters BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation OEM: original equipment manufacturer USA: The United States of America MEC: Mountain Equipment Co-Op

Pronounced as a string of letters, but with a shortcut :AAA:(triple A) American Automobile Association; abdominal aortic aneurysm; anti-aircraft artillery;Asistencia, Asesora y Administracin(three As) Amateur Athletic AssociationIEEE: (I triple E) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers NAACP: (N double A C P) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NCAA: (N C double A or N C two A orN C A A) National Collegiate Athletic Association

Shortcut incorporated into name 3M: (three M) originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company(ISC): (ISC-squared) International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium[13] W3C: (W three C) World Wide Web Consortium C4ISTAR: (C four I star) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance[14]Multi-layered acronyms NAC Breda: (Dutch football club) NOAD ADVENDO Combinatie ("NOAD ADVENDO Combination"), formed by the 1912 merger of two clubs from Breda:NOAD (Nooit Opgeven Altijd Doorgaan"Never give up, always persevere")ADVENDO (Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning "Pleasant by entertainment and useful by relaxation")GAIM (former name of Pidgin):GTK+ AOL Instant MessengerGIMP: GNU Image Manipulation ProgramVHDL: VHSIC hardware description language, where VHSIC stands forvery-high-speed integrated circuit.Recursive acronyms, in which the abbreviation refers to itselfGNU: GNU's not Unix!Wine: Wine is not an emulator(originally, Windows emulator)PHP: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor(formerly personal home page tools)These may go through multiple layers before the self-reference is found:HURD: HIRD of Unix-replacing daemons, where "HIRD" stands for "HURD of interfaces representing depth"

Pronounced as a word WAC Womens Army Corps NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization LASER Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation pronounced as initials FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation ATM Automated Teller Machine BBC British Broadcasting Corporation AFL-CIO American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations pronounced partly as letters, partly as syllables JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group MS-DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System CD-ROM Compact Disc read-only memory pronounced as words by some speakers; as letters by others: FAQ Frequently Asked Questions LED Light-Emitting Diode ASAP As Soon As Possible IRA Individual Retirement Account SAT Scholastic Achievement Test

Pronounced as letters and words AAA (Triple A) American Automobile Association NAACP (N double-A CP) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Formed from letters within a word as well as initial letters DNA DeoxyriboNucleic Acid SONAR SOund Navigation And Ranging XML eXtensible Markup Language

Acronyms whose last abbreviated word is oftenredundantly included anyway ATMmachine:automated teller machinemachine E3expo:electronic entertainment expoexpo HIVvirus:human immunodeficiency virusvirus LCDdisplay:liquid crystal display display PINnumber:personal identification numbernumber CACcard:common access cardcard