Abbreviations Dictionaries

Many people are familiar with the shorthand language of texting and know that the abbreviation  LOL means “laugh out loud”.  But did you know that it can also mean little old lady, lots of love, or lots of luck? According to the entry in the American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary such is the case.   But shorthand ways of referring to things are not new.  There are many shorthand references used in articles and books, heard on the news or even in general conversation.  For instance, anyone listening to the news has heard the abbreviation NASDAQ referred to, but, how many of you know that it stands for National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotation (system)? 

A few of the dictionaries available at Hewes Library.

To find that out and to decipher the many abbreviations found in books, articles and the news you should turn to an abbreviations dictionary.  Two good abbreviations dictionaries are found in the Hewes Library, the first is the 10^th edition of the Abbreviations Dictionary found in the reference collection, the second is the American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary found in the Credo Reference collection, an online database subscribed to by Hewes.  The print dictionary, in addition to its abbreviations entries also contains such useful information as the abbreviations for airlines, birthstones, the Greek alphabet, the International Radio Alphabet and Code, musical nicknames and superlatives, national capitals, astronomical and zodiac symbols and many other interesting things.  The online dictionary contains more slang and technology terms like LOL, LDR (long distance relationship is only one meaning) and ROTFL (roll on the floor laughing)  Both dictionaries are good places to look to decipher unfamiliar terms and phrases. 

So take a look and discover the meanings of many of the shorthand terms and phrases you see all around you, YKWIM?