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| abbreviations_acronyms_initialisms [2024/12/04 06:34] – [Initialism] wikiowner | abbreviations_acronyms_initialisms [2025/11/05 06:36] (current) – [Acronym] wikiowner |
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| * **CAPTCHA** - **C**ompletely **A**utomated **P**ublic **T**uring test to tell **C**omputers and **H**umans **A**part - The acronym (pronounced KAP-chə) is the challenge-response test just about everyone has seen when trying to access their online accounts. Here's a recent example. {{:captcha.jpg?linkonly|}} | * **CAPTCHA** - **C**ompletely **A**utomated **P**ublic **T**uring test to tell **C**omputers and **H**umans **A**part - The acronym (pronounced KAP-chə) is the challenge-response test just about everyone has seen when trying to access their online accounts. Here's a recent example. {{:captcha.jpg?linkonly|}} |
| * **Cron** - As in Cronjob. **C**ommand **R**un **O**n **N**otice | * **Cron** - As in Cronjob. **C**ommand **R**un **O**n **N**otice |
| | * **DOS** - **D**isk **O**perating **S**ystem - What we had before Windows. (Yes, I know that's a pretty lame explanation, but good enough.) |
| * **ESRI** - **E**nvironmental **S**ystems **R**esearch **I**nstitute - The acronym (pronounced 'ez-ree') is now the preferred usage however, it is still spoken as an initialism, particularly by long-time (i.e. old) ESRI software users. | * **ESRI** - **E**nvironmental **S**ystems **R**esearch **I**nstitute - The acronym (pronounced 'ez-ree') is now the preferred usage however, it is still spoken as an initialism, particularly by long-time (i.e. old) ESRI software users. |
| * **FOMO** - **F**ear **O**f **M**issing **O**ut - The sense that when you're presented with new information, whether via email, seeing a new article in your Facebook or Twitter feeds, or scrolling through notifications on your phone, that if you don't stop everything and consume it immediately, you're going to miss out on something super important that everybody else in the world knows about but you. | * **FOMO** - **F**ear **O**f **M**issing **O**ut - The sense that when you're presented with new information, whether via email, seeing a new article in your Facebook or Twitter feeds, or scrolling through notifications on your phone, that if you don't stop everything and consume it immediately, you're going to miss out on something super important that everybody else in the world knows about but you. |
| * **JSON** - (pronounced "jason" according to its inventor, Douglas Crockford), stands for **J**ava**S**cript **O**bject **N**otation | * **JSON** - (pronounced "jason" according to its inventor, Douglas Crockford), stands for **J**ava**S**cript **O**bject **N**otation |
| * **Laser** - **Li**ght **A**mplification of **S**timulated **E**mission of **R**adiation - Everyone knows what a laser is. | * **Laser** - **Li**ght **A**mplification of **S**timulated **E**mission of **R**adiation - Everyone knows what a laser is. |
| * **LiDAR** - **Li**ght **D**etection **a**nd **R**anging - A laser version of Radar. | * **LiDAR** - **Li**ght **D**etection **a**nd **R**anging - A laser version of Radar. (See Radar, below.) |
| * **LORAN** - **L**ong **R**ange **N**avigation - A long range system developed in the United States during World War II. | * **LORAN** - **L**ong **R**ange **N**avigation - A long range system developed in the United States during World War II. |
| * **NASA** - **N**ational **A**eronautics and **S**pace **A**dministration | * **NASA** - **N**ational **A**eronautics and **S**pace **A**dministration |
| * **NATO** - **N**orth **A**tlantic **T**reaty **O**rganization | * **NATO** - **N**orth **A**tlantic **T**reaty **O**rganization |
| * **OPEC** - **O**rganization of the **P**etroleum **E**xporting **C**ountries | * **OPEC** - **O**rganization of the **P**etroleum **E**xporting **C**ountries |
| | * **PARC** - **P**alo **A**lto **R**esearch **C**enter - PARC is where the computer mouse came from. They did a few other things as well. |
| * **PIN** - **P**ersonal **I**dentification **N**umber, used for just about everything in the world. | * **PIN** - **P**ersonal **I**dentification **N**umber, used for just about everything in the world. |
| * **Radar** - **RA**dio **D**etecting **A**nd **R**anging | * **Radar** - **RA**dio **D**etecting **A**nd **R**anging |
| * **SQL** - Stands for **S**tructured **Q**uery **L**anguage. Even though many people pronounce this as a word (sequel), and thereby making it an acronym, that's wrong. It's really an initialism (see below in the Initialism section) and it should be pronounced that way. (BTW, SEQUEL, was a real acronym back in the 70s when it stood for **S**tructured **E**nglish **Que**ry **L**anguage, but was dropped because it was a trademark of an airplane company.) BTW, this is the only three-letter acronym that I have at the moment, but like I mentioned, it's really used incorrectly. | * **SQL** - Stands for **S**tructured **Q**uery **L**anguage. Even though many people pronounce this as a word (sequel), and thereby making it an acronym, that's wrong. It's really an initialism (see below in the Initialism section) and it should be pronounced that way. (BTW, SEQUEL, was a real acronym back in the 70s when it stood for **S**tructured **E**nglish **Que**ry **L**anguage, but was dropped because it was a trademark of an airplane company.) BTW, this is the only three-letter acronym that I have at the moment, but like I mentioned, it's really used incorrectly. |
| * **SWOT** - **S**trengths, **W**eaknesses, **O**pportunities, and **T**hreats - Used as a structured planning method to evaluate these key areas of an organization. My experience has shown that this is just another thing that some people like to do and then try to pass it off as actually being useful. | * **SWOT** - **S**trengths, **W**eaknesses, **O**pportunities, and **T**hreats - Used as a structured planning method to evaluate these key areas of an organization. My experience has shown that this is just another thing that some people like to do and then try to pass it off as actually being useful. |
| * **WYSIWYG** - Pronounced (WIZ-ee-wig) - Stands for "**W**hat **Y**ou **S**ee **I**s **W**hat **Y**ou **G**et." That phrase, "what you see is what you get", was originally created by Flip Wilson's character Geraldine and it inspired researchers at PARC (and elsewhere) to create the acronym for computer software that allows content to be edited in a form that looks like it will when printed. Really a useless acronym, now, but was popular at one time. | * **WYSIWYG** - Pronounced (WIZ-ee-wig) - Stands for "**W**hat **Y**ou **S**ee **I**s **W**hat **Y**ou **G**et." That phrase, "what you see is what you get", was originally created by Flip Wilson's character Geraldine and it inspired researchers at PARC (and elsewhere) to use the acronym for computer software that allows content to be edited in a form that looks like it will when printed. Pretty much a useless acronym now, but was popular at one time. |
| * **YAGNI** - Stands for "**Y**ou **A**ren't **G**onna **N**eed **I**t" - a principle of extreme programming (XP) that states a programmer should not add functionality until deemed necessary. | * **YAGNI** - Stands for "**Y**ou **A**ren't **G**onna **N**eed **I**t" - a principle of extreme programming (XP) that states a programmer should not add functionality until deemed necessary. |
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