An acronym is a new word created from the first letters of a phrase, and read like a complete word.
| aga Aktiebolaget Gasaccumulator | mooc massive open online class |
| AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (later stage of HIV) | nimby not in my back yard |
| asap as soon as possible | PIN personal identification number |
| AWOL absent without leave (= they have left, but they shouldn’t have) | radar radio detection and ranging |
| BASE jummping building, antenna, span, Earth | SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome |
| captcha completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart | scuba self-contained underwater breathing apparatus |
| care package Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (previously Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe; care packages were started during WWII) | SIM card subscriber identification module |
| E-fit electronic facial identification technique | snafu situation normal, all f**ked up |
| Gestapo Geheime Staatspolizei (German; translated: secret state police) | sonar sound navigation and ranging |
| GIF graphics interchange format | Soweto south west townships |
| gulag Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey (Russian; translation: Chief Administration of Corrective Labour Camps) | swag stuff we all get |
| humvee high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV has been changed to humvee) | taser Thomas Swift’s electric rifle |
| laser light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation | zip code zone improvement plan |