An alphabet is an abbreviation using the first letter of each word in a sentence, pronounced by spelling each letter. Spoonerisms can create puns, and some alphabets can resemble bad words. It’s common to use shortcuts for repeated letters, and some acronyms use a hybrid pronunciation. When using an alphabet in print, it’s conventional to explain it fully and then include it in parentheses.
A literacy is a form of abbreviation that is created by using the first letter of each word in a sentence to spell out a new word, much like an acronym. Unlike acronyms, which can usually be read as words, alphabets are read and pronounced by spelling each letter, as in “u es em cee” for USMC, a alphabet derived from the United States Marine Corps. You may also hear a literacy referred to as an acronym, which refers to the idea that it takes the initial letter of each word in a sentence to construct an acronym.
When building literacy, little thought is given to pronunciation, because there is no intent to pronounce literacy. However, most people try to think about the possibility of making a spoon by accident when creating a literacy. A spoon is a word or phrase in which letters or sounds are swapped, creating a pun. Some spoonerisms are harmless, but in some cases a literacy might come very close to a bad word, especially when seen at a glance, and this is undesirable.
In a literacy like AAA, where the same letter appears multiple times, it can be read as “triple A” rather than “ah ha ha.” This shortcut is much less cumbersome than spelling letters and tends to make literacy more intelligible when read aloud. In cases where the same letter appears twice in a row, it’s also common to see this shortcut, to make sure people understand that the same letter really does appear twice and that the speaker doesn’t stutter.
Some acronyms represent a hybrid of the traditional acronym and literacy. For example, the acronym CPAC, which stands for a number of organizations, may be said “cee pac” rather than “cee pee a cee”. Organizations that share acronyms or literacy with other groups may adopt this hybrid pronunciation to ensure they are not confused with the other organization, especially if the groups work in similar fields.
When using a literacy in print, it is conventional to explain it fully and then include the literacy in parentheses, so that people understand what is being referred to. For example, one could say, “The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has a major influence on global fuel prices.” After literacy has been explained to the reader, it can be used exclusively in the rest of the article, although some authors switch back and forth when talking about the many organizations to prevent alphabet soup.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
