ACRONYMS, HOMONYMS AND HOMOPHONES

 

1. Acronym

What is the difference between an acronym and an initialism?

According to Marriam Webster dictionary, both acronyms and initialisms are made up of the first letter or letters of the words in a phrase. The word acronym typically applies when the resulting thing can be read as a word; for example, radar comes from "radio detection and ranging" and scuba comes from "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus." The word initialism only applies when the resulting thing is read as an abbreviation; for example DIY, which comes from "do it yourself," is pronounced by saying the names of the letters. Note that the word acronym is also sometimes used to mean "initialism."

What is the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation?

An acronym is a kind of abbreviation. Abbreviations can be shortened forms of any kind. For example, appt is an abbreviation of appointment, and ASAP is an abbreviation of as soon as possible. ASAP, however, also qualifies as an acronym because it is made up of the initial letters of the phrase it comes from: as soon as possible.

Is OK an acronym?

OK is technically an acronym. It comes from the phrase "oll korrect," a humorous alteration of "all correct."

Examples of acronyms:

ASAP – As soon as possible

CAPTCHA – Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart

FIFA – Federation Internationale de Football Association

FOMO – Fear of missing out

IELTS – International English Language Testing System

ISRO – Indian Space Research Organization

LASER – Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

LAN – Local Area Network

LOL – Laugh out loud

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

PIN – Personal Identification Number

RADAR – Radio Detection and Ranging

RAM – Random Access Memory

RAW – Research and Analysis Wing

ROM – Read Only Memory

SAARC – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

SCUBA – Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

SIM – Subscriber Identity Module

SONAR – Sound Navigation and Ranging

SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language

TESL – Teaching English as a Second Language

TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language

UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

UNICEF – United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

WAN – Wide Area Network

WiFi – Wireless Fidelity

WIP – Work in progress

YOLO – You only live once

ZIP – Zone Improvement Plan

2. Homophone = the same sound – the words that have the same pronunciations, but different spellings and different meanings such as there and their.

Examples of Homophones:

Air - atmosphere

Heir - inheritor

All - the whole

Awl - pointed tool

Aloud - loudly

Allowed - permitted

Assent - agree

Ascent - going up

Ate - past tense of 'eat'

Eight – the number 8

Bear - an animal

Bare - uncovered or empty

Bolder -more bold

Boulder - more rock

Berth - sleeping place

Birth - being born

Bore - make a hole

Boar - a male pig

Bow - bend

Bough - branch of a tree

Bowled - past tense of 'bowl'

Bold - brave

Calendar - table showing months

Calendar - machine for pressing

Canvas - coarse cloth

Canvass - asking for votes

Canon - an accepted principle or rule

Cannon - a big gun

Cast - throw

Caste - social class

Check - examine

Cheque - written order for the bank to pay

Cite - refer to, name, mention

Site - a location

Cord - thin rope

Chord - line joining two points in a circle

Council - assembly

Counsel – advice

Coarse - rough

Course - direction, series of studies

Dear - loving

Dear - high in price, costly, scarce

Deer - an animal

Dew - tiny drops of moisture

Due - owed as a debt or an obligation

Die - stop living

Dye - colour

Doe - female deer

Dough - mass of flour moistened and kneaded

Fair - mela, not dark, honest

Fare - price for travel

Feet - plural of foot

Feat - a deed of skill

Flour - Pronounced flower, powder made from grain

Flower – a bloom

Fowl - bird

Foul - bad smell or taste

Grown - past participle of grow  

Groan - sound forced out by pain

Hair - hair on our head

Hare - rabbit

Heal - cure

Heel - back part of the foot

Hole - hollow place

Whole - complete

Hear - listen

Here – at this place

Idle - lazy

Idol - image of god

Incite - to enrage, provoke, anger

Insight. - the ability to see the inner nature of someone or something

It's - a contraction of the words "it" and "is

Its - the possessive form of it

Lessen - become less

Lesson - something to be learnt

Lead - Pronounced led, a metal

Led - past tense of 'lead'

Lightning - flash in the clouds

Lightening - making lighter

Loose - not tight

Lose - to part with something

Meet - come in contact

Meat – flesh

Night - opposite of day

Knight - honourable rank

Not - negative

Knot - tangle

Oar - car is used to row a boat

Ore - rock containing mineral

Peace - tranquility

Piece - a part, portion, bit

Peak - maximum height

Peek- to look quickly and secretly

Pique – arouse, stimulate

Plane - smooth

Plain - flat land

Praise - admire

Prays - offers prayers

Principal - chief

Principle – rule

Rain - water that falls from the sky

Reign - sway, rule, a period of time

Rein. - a leather strap

Raise - lift

Rays - beams of light

Raze - demolish, level to the ground

Right - correct

Write - note down

Role - a part one acts

Roll – turn, rotate, spin, move

Sale - act of selling something

Sail - sheet of canvas of a ship or boat

Sea - the part of an ocean

See - watch, look

Site - a location

Sight - vision

Sole - belonging to one person only, the bottom surface of the foot

Soul - more spiritual

Stationary - staying in one spot

Stationery – writing equipment such as pen, penil, paper and envelopes

Steal - take without permission

Steel - a metal 

Tale - a story

Tail - the part at the end of the body of an animal or bird

Their - possessive pronoun form of they

There – at that place

They’re - a contraction of "they" and "are,"

Waist - the narrowest part around the middle of your body

Waste - something you throw away or misuse.

Yore - refers to the past

Your - the possessive adjective form of you

 You’re - the contraction of "you" and "are"

3. Homonym = the same name – the words that have the same spellings and the same pronunciations, but different meanings such as bat and bat. 

Examples of Homonyms:

Axes = the plural of axis

Axes = the plural of axe

Band = music group

Band = a ring or strap

Bank = land sloping up along each side of river

Bank = an establishment for keeping money

Bark = outer covering of a tree trunk

Bark = sound made by dogs

Bat = flying mammal

Bat = sports equipment

Bear = the animal

Bear = the verb meaning “to carry”

Blow = moving of a current of air

Blow = hard stroke given with the fist

Blue = color

Blue= depressed feeling

Can = container

Can = modal auxiliary showing ability

Chest = a large strong box

Chest = the upper front part of the body

Class = lesson; category

Class = classiness

Close = near

Close = to shut

Content = satisfied

Content = various media

Crane = bird

Crane = machine used in construction

Date = a day in a month or a year

Date = a sweet fruit

Fan = the appliance that makes wind

Fan = an admirer/appreciator

Fair = treating justly/impartially

Fair = market

Fall = to go down

Fall = a season of the year, otherwise known as autumn

Fine = money that must be paid as a punishment

Fine = of high quality

Firm = not yielding

Firm = business company

Grave = serious

Grave = ground dug for a dead body

Hide = animal's skin

Hide = keep out of sight

Jar = container usually of glass

Jar = have a harsh effect

Just = being morally right

Just = simply

Lean = thin

Lean = bend

Leave = go away from

Leave = time absent from duty

Leave = permission to remain absent from a working plcae

Mean = convey something

Mean = selfish

Might = great strength

Might = a modal verb

Nail = of a finger

Nail = catch or arrest

Object = thing

Object = argue

Park = public garden

Park = leave a vehicle in a place

Pen = writing instrument

Pen = fenced plot for keeping the cattle, sheep, poultry, etc.

Present = gift

Present = to bring forth

Produce = create

Produce = fruits and veggies

Right = opposite of left

Right = what is good and just

Row = propel a boat

Row = something arranged in a line

Rose = a flower

Rose = to come up

Ruler = someone who rules a kingdom

Ruler = a long, narrow piece of wood, steel or plastic that is flat and used to measure things or draw straight lines

Spring = a season of the year

Spring = to jump or move suddenly or quickly

Sound = in good condition

Sound = sensation detected by the ear

State = condition

State = express

Strike = organised stopping of work by workers

Strike = hit

Subject = thing

Subject = to something

Train = railway engine with bogies

Train = modify behaviour through instruction or practice

Trunk = main stem of a tree

Trunk = large box for storing clothes

Well = A large, deep hole in the ground that carries water which can be used for domestic purposes

Well = to be in a good state

4. Homograph = the same writing – the words that have the same spellings, but different meanings and sometimes different pronunciations such as wind and wind.

*The most common confusion comes between homonyms and homographs because both the types of words are spelled the same, but homographs have different pronunciations.

Examples of Homographs:

• bow, row, sewer, sow, minute, read, desert, lead, bass, close, dove, live, mobile, polish, object, produce, refuse, resume, wind, and wound.

N.B.  Collected from different sources.