“After coming to the U.S. I first lived in DC, then I decided to move to Pacific Beach, AKA P.B. There seem to be parties 24/7 here, and most are BYOB. And most are exclusive, friends-only events. FYI, if you are invite to these parties, you need to make some friends with people who live in PB ASAP.”

Huh????

The above sentence is a good representation of an American speaking with acronyms. Acronyms are words that are made of individual letters that each stand for another word. An example would be the U.S. (which stands for the “United States”).

Acronyms are an important part of everyday speech. How many of these commonly-used acronyms do you know?

24/7 – 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous
AC – Air Conditioning
AD – Anno Domini (“In the Year of Our Lord”)
AKA – Also Known As
ASAP – As Soon As Possible
ATM – Automated Teller Machine
B & B – Bed and Breakfast
BC – Before Christ or Because
BCE – Before the Common Era
BLT – Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato
BYOB – Bring Your Own Beer
CC – Credit Card
FYI – For Your Information
GM – General Manager
GMO – Genetically Modified (usually as in “Non-GMO”)
ID – Identification
JFK – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
MLK – Martin Luther King, Jr.
MTD – Month To Date

After reading this list, can you translate the quote at the beginning of this blog?

“After coming to the United States I first lived in Washington, District of Columbia, then I decided to move to Pacific Beach, also known as P.B. There seem to be parties 24 hours a day, 7 days a week here, and most are bring your own beer. And most are exclusive, friends-only events. For your information, if you are invite to these parties, you need to make some friends with people who live in Pacific Beach as soon as possible. “