Like it or not, abbreviations and acronyms are now an essential ingredient of everyday life. Since the first edition of The Wordsworth Dictionary of Abbreviations & Acronyms was published in mid-1997, the compilers have been diligently collecting further examples from many walks of life

An updated edition of current acronyms, abbreviations, and Americanisms includes some 19,000 entries that encompass a wide range of blends, clippings, foreign words, initialisms, numericals, and truncations.

This essential reference enables users to break through all the mysteries of abbreviated American English words and phrases. The guide concentrates on acronyms and initialisms found in common work and learning situations and covers 2,100 shortened words used in American English.

Published in 2001: Abbreviations, nicknames, jargon, and other short forms save time, space, and effort - provided they are understood. Thousands of new and potentially confusing terms become part of the international vocabulary each year, while our communications are relayed to one another with increasing speed. PDAs link to PCs. The Net has grown into data central, shopping mall, and grocery store all rolled into one. E-mail is faster than snail mail, cell phones are faster yet - and it is all done 24/7. Longtime and widespread use of certain abbreviations, such as R.S.V.P., has made them better understood standing alone than spelled out. Certainly we are more comfortable saying DNA than deoxyribonucleic acid - but how many people today really remember what the initials stand for? The Abbreviations Dictionary, Tenth Edition gives you this and other information from Airlines of the World to the Zodiacal Signs.

From Abadan to Zero Point, this dictionary provides an accessible guide to the language and lore which have developed around railways since their invention in the early 19th century. It defines railway terms and includes proper names of trains, lines, companies, periodicals and manufacturers, as well as clarifying the profusion of abbreviations, acronyms and initials. The dictionary also interprets and explains many foreign words and phrases, and the slang and colloquialisms used by professional and amateurs alike. The text is enhanced by many explanatory drawings and diagrams.

This dictionary aims to help users to find the most appropriate word to use on a wide range of occasions. It is designed in particular for students, those writing reports, letters and speeches, and crossword solvers, but is also useful as a general word reference. Special features include: an alphabetical A-Z listing; numbered senses for words with more than one meaning; British and American variants; and specially marked colloquial uses.