Acronyms (Easy)

Hi! I'm Peter.

Catherine

And I'm Catherine. Welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. And today were talking about

acronyms.

Peter

of acronyms are the name FIFA, that's the international federation of association

football, and BBC.

Catherine

Well talk about these names come from and well tell you how we say and write

them.

Peter

There will be a of course; and well also bring you a top tip for remembering these

words.

Catherine

Let's start by listening James. He's giving a lecture about the United Nations.

Peter

And while youre listening: Can you guess where the UNESCO comes from?

INSERT

James

The United Nations aims to encourage international cooperation and preserve world peace.

A number different organisations are part of it. One of the most well-known is

UNESCO. That's the United Nations Educational, Scientific Cultural Organisation. But

you may also have heard of the W-H-O--, the I-M-F--, and the W-B-G--, for example. Do

know what they are? The UN performs most of its work through these different

organisations.

Peter

So we asked : Can you guess where the name UNESCO comes from?

Catherine

And the answer is that it comes from the letters of the organisation's full name: United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation: UNESCO.

Peter

Now with acronyms like , we say them as if they are a word: UNESCO. We

don't spell out the letters separately. We don't U-N-E-S-C-O-----.

Catherine

Other acronyms like this that are very well-known are NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty

Organisation, and NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Peter

That's easy for you to say. By the way, FIFA is a bit a trick. The acronym actually comes

from the French name for the organisation, not the English. Federation Internationale de

Association.

Catherine

Nice accent.

Peter

Merci.

Catherine

So what about the other acronyms James mentioned? Let's listen.

INSERT CLIP James

 � you may also have heard of the W-H-O--, the I-M-F--, and the W-B-G--, for example.

Catherine

Now next acronyms are a bit different. We spell out the initial letters separately. Can

you guess what these letters for? W-H-O--.

Peter

That's the World Health Organisation.

Catherine

It is. Now: I-M-F--…

Peter

It's the International Monetary Fund.

W-B-G--?

Peter

The World Bank Group.

Catherine

And it's worth remembering that we always write both types of acronym capital letters.

Now for another clip.

INSERT CLIP 2

James

The UN performs most of its work through these organisations.

Catherine

Now it's interesting that James started off by saying the United Nations. But here he says

the . Why's that do you think?

Peter

Well, using acronyms saves time and it makes the organisations seem more familiar.

the second type of acronym like U-N-, where you spell out the letters, we sometimes use

the full name first time we mention the organisation and then, once weve done that, we

go on to use the acronym we continue to talk about it.

Catherine

OK. But with the first type of acronym like UNESCO, where you it as a word, we

nearly always use just the acronym. That's probably because the full names are often long

that the acronyms have actually become like words to replace them.

Peter

Yes, in fact there are a words in English that used to be acronyms but have now

become ordinary words. These words are not written capital letters. For example

scuba as in scuba diving. This comes from self-contained underwater breathing

apparatus. And laser comes light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Catherine

Wow, well yes, that is quite a mouthful, isn't it?

Peter

certainly does go on…

IDENT

6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Peter

Were talking about acronyms.

Catherine

And quiz time! And this time it's a bit of a general knowledge game this time because

were going to if you know what some popular acronyms stand for. And not all of them

are organisations. So number one: .

Peter

It's the World Wide Web.

Catherine

It is, indeed. Now number two: RAM.

Peter

That's Random Access Memory. use it for a type of computer memory.

Catherine

We do. And the last one: CIA.

Peter

It's the Intelligence Agency in the US.

Catherine

It is indeed and it's well done if you got them all right.

And before we go, here's a vocabulary tip. There are a lot of acronyms in everyday life as

well those that are organisations. For example ATM, DIY and FYI. We use them all the

time. When you see acronym written in capital letters, check out what it stands for

online or find a dictionary. They do make and are easy to remember when you know

the full name or meaning.

Peter

There's more about this at .. Join us again soon for more 6 Minute

Vocabulary.

Both

Bye!