Some acronyms have become such an accepted part of the language that they are seldom spelt out, for example, scuba, sonar and Qantas. Indeed, most people struggle to remember what they originally stood for.
scuba – self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
sonar – sound navigation and ranging
Qantas – Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services
An initialism is a string of initial letters that is not pronounced as a word, for example, FAQ, which stands for ‘frequently asked question’. In most instances, you need to spell out the full name of a term when you use it for the first time, then put the initialism in brackets directly after it.
Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) released its annual report.
Guidelines for using acronyms and initialisms
If you are writing a document that contains several different initialisms or acronyms, consider ways to avoid constantly repeating them. For example, environmental impact statement (EIS) could become the statement, and Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) could become the program.Alternatively, you could provide a glossary of terms at the back.
Initialisms and capitals
Many initialisms are written in capitals, but when you spell out the words, the normal rules of capitals apply.
New South Wales (NSW)
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
A or an and the with initialisms and acronyms
Let the spoken word be your guide when deciding whether to use a or an before an initialism or acronym.
He made an STD call to talk to his mother.
If an initialism or acronym can be pronounced as a word (NATO, UNESCO, ASIC), it does not generally need to take the definite article (the). Other abbreviated names are usually preceded by the.
NATO has its headquarters in Brussels.
The KGB is a Russian organisation.
Plurals of initialisms and acronyms
Most initialisms are made plural by adding an s. There is no need for an apostrophe.
MPs not MP’s
ISPs not ISP’s
If an acronym ends with s, you add an s, not es, for example, SOSs (not SOSes).
Australian states and territories
Some organisations use capitals for all states, for example, NSW, VIC, QLD, but the conventional method is to use capitals for initialisms and the first few letters for state names that are one word:
ACT
NSW
NT
Qld
SA
Tas
Vic
WA
Common mistakes with acronyms and initialisms
Common style mistakes are using:- Quotation marks inside the brackets (“NSWFB”)
- Full stops between each letter (F.A.Q.)
- Apostrophes with plural initialisms (FAQs not FAQ’s)
