Acronyms Vs. Mnemonics

(written on February 8, 2020)

Definition of an acronym: an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word. Examples include:

• NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• ASCII- American Standard Code for Information Interchange

• FLOTUS- First Lady of the United States

• GIF- Graphics Interchange Format

*It is important to note the subtle difference between an acronym and an abbreviation. Both are initializations of names, but acronyms can be pronounced as a word (like NASA) whereas abbreviations are stated as the letters (like FBI or CIA).

Definition of a mnemonic: a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.

The difference between both is that an acronym is like a subcategory of the mnemonics. An acronym can be used as a mnemonic to memorize something. Let’s say you wanted to memorize the order of operations; you would use PEMDAS. Or maybe you needed to memorize the names of the Great Lakes, well, you could use HOMES (Huron, Orion, Michigan, Erie, Superior). Acronyms, abbreviations, phrases, these are all memorizations tools, they are all mnemonics.