Public Domain Acronym/Abbreviation Dbase 2D - 2-Dimensional 3D - 3-Dimensional 3M - Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing 4GL - Fourth Generation Language 4H - Head, Heart, Hands, Health A - Aftermath A&M - Agricultural and Mechanical A/D - Analog to Digital converter (see ADC) A/P - Accounts Payable A/R - Accounts Receivable AA - Affirmative Action committee AA - Alcoholics Anonymous AA - Antiaircraft Artillery AA - Associate in Accounting AA - Automobile Association (in England) AAA - American Automobile Association AAAAAA - the Association for the Abolition of Abused Abbreviations and Asinine A ronyms AAAL - American Academy of Arts and Letters AAAS - American Association for the Advancement of Science - A.A.A.S AAII - American Association of Individual Investors AAMSI - American Association for Medical Systems Informatics AAP - Affirmative Action Program AARC - Anglo-American Cataloging Rules AB - ABle seaman ABA - American Bar Association ABA - American Basketball Association ABA - American Booksellers Association ABBR - ABBReviation ABC - American Broadcasting Company AC - Alternating Current (ac, see also DC) AC - Ante Christum (before Christ) AC - Ante Cibum (before meals) ACAA - Agricultural Conservation and Adjustment Administration ACAWS - Advisory, Caution, And Warning System ACBL - American Contract Bridge League ACC - Argonne Code Center ACCS - Army Command and Control System ACD - Automatic Call Distributing system ACE - Automatic Calibration and Equalization ACHEFT - Automated ClearingHouse Electronic Funds Transfer ACK - ACKnowledge ACL - Advanced Cmos Logic ACM - Association for Computing Machinery ACO - Acronym Control Officer ACS - Advanced Communications System ACTS - Advanced Communications Technology Satellite ACTS - Automatic Coin Telephone Service ACU - Alarm Control Unit ACW - Alternating Continuous Waves AD - After Date AD - Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) AD - Application Development AD&D - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ADB - A DeBugger ADB - Apple Desktop Bus ADC - Analog to Digital Converter ADCI - Automatic Display Call Indicator ADF - Automatic Direction Finder ADM - ADMiral ADP - Adenosine Di-Phosphate ADP - Administrative Data Processing ADP - Advanced Data Processing ADS - Application Development System ADS - Automatic Voice System ADSR - Attack Decay Sustain Release ADT - Abstract Data Type ADT - Atlantic Daylight Time AE - Application Execution AEA - American Electronics Association AEC - Atomic Energy Commission AEF - American Expeditionary Force (see BEF) AEGIS - Advanced Electronic Guidance and Instrumentation System AF - Adventures in Fantasy AF - Air Force AF - Audio Frequency AFADS - Automatic Force Adjustment Data System AFATDS - Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System AFB - Air Force Base AFC - American Football Conference AFC - Automatic Flight Control AFC - Automatic Frequency Control AFCAC - Air Force Computer Acquisition Center AFCC - Air Force Communications Command AFGE - American Federation of Government Employees AFIPS - American Federation of Information Processing Societies AFL - American Federation of Labor AFL - American Football League AFLCIO - American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations AFNOR - Association Francaise de NORmalization AFP - Appletalk Filing Protocol AFS - Andrew File System AFSC - Air Force Systems Command AFSCME - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees AFTRA - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists AG - Adjutant General AG - Arcade Game AG - Attorney General AGCT - Army General Classification Test AH - Avalon Hill (major war game manufacturer) AHL - American Hockey League AHQ - Air HeadQuarters AI - Artificial Intelligence AIAA - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIC - Automatic Intercept Center AID - Agency for International Development AIDDE - Ames' Interactive Dynamic Display Editor AIDS - Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome AIOD - Automatic Identification Outward Dialing AIS - Automatic Intercept System AIX - Advanced Interactive eXecutive (unix) AK - Alaska AKA - Also Known As AL - Alabama AL - American League (baseball) ALA - American Library Association ALA - Automobile Legal Association ALBM - Air-to-Land Ballistic Missile ALC - Automatic Load Control ALGOL - ALGOrithmic Language ALU - Arithmetic Logic Unit AM - Amplitude Modulation AM - Ante Meridiem (before noon) AMA - American Medical Association AMA - Automatic Message Accounting AMARC - Automatic Message Accounting Recording Center AMBA - Association of Master of Business Administration AMC - Albany Medical College AMD - Advanced Micro Devices AMEX - AMerican EXpress AMORC - Ancient Mystic Order Rosae Crucis AMP - Adenosine MonoPhosphate AMPAS - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AMRAAM - Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile AMSAT - radio AMateur SATellite corp. AMU - Atomic Mass Unit AMVET - AMerican VETeran ANA - American Nurses Association ANC - All Number Calling ANC - Army Nurse Corps ANDF - Architecture-Neural Distribution Format ANF - Automatic Number Forwarding ANG - Air National Guard ANI - Automatic Number Identification ANL - Argonne National Laboratory ANOVA - ANalysis Of VAriance ANPA - American Newspaper Publishers Association ANSI - American National Standards Institute ANZUS - Australia, New Zealand, United States AO - Account Of AOL - Absent Over Leave (see AWOL) AOS - Academic Operating System AP - Additional Premium AP - All Points AP - Associated Press APA - All Points Addressable APB - All Points Bulletin APDA - Apple Programmers and Developers Association API - Application Programming Interface APICS - American Production and Inventory Control Society APO - Army Post Office APP - Applications Portability Profile APPC - Advanced Peer-to-Peer Communications APR - Annual Percentage Rate (as in loan interest) APSE - Ada Programming Support Environment AQ - Accumulator-Quotient register AR - Address Register AR - Arkansas ARC - American Red Cross ARCNET - Attached Resource Computer local area NETwork ARO - After Receipt of Order ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork ARRL - Amateur Radio Relay League ARV - American Revised Version AS - Anglo-Saxon ASA - Acetyl Salicylic Acid ASAP - As Soon As Possible ASC - Accredited Standards Committee ASCAP - American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers ASCC - Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASDIC - Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee (British for sonar) ASDSP - Application-Specific Digital Signal Processor ASG - Automated Sciences Group ASHRAE - Amer. Soc. of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-cond. Engineers, inc. ASIC - Application Specific Integrated Circuit ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASP - Aggregated Switch Procurement ASSR - Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic AST - Atlantic Standard Time ASV - American Standard Version AT - Atlantic Time AT&T - American Telephone & Telegraph ATA - Automatic Trouble Analysis ATACC - Advanced Tactical Air Command Central ATB - Advanced Technology Bomber (stealth bomber) ATC - Air Traffic Control ATF - Advanced Technology Fighter ATIS - Atherton Tools Interface Specification ATM - Automatic Teller Machine ATOMS - AT&t Optimized Materials Simulator ATP - Adenosine TriPhosphate ATPCO - Airline Tariff Publishing COmpany ATTIS - American Telephone and Telegraph Information Systems ATV - All Terrain Vehicle AUS - Army of the United States AUTODIN - AUTOmatic DIgital Network AUTOVON - AUTOmatic VOice Network AV - AudioVisual AVLIS - Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation AWACS - Airborne Warnings And Control Systems AWEA - American Wind Energy Association AWK - al Aho, peter Weinberger, brian Kernighan (pattern scanning language) AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave (also Absent Without Official Leave) (see AOL) AZ - Arizona ApJ - Astrophysical Journal - Ap J B - Book BA - Bachelor of Arts BACH - Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp BAFO - Best And Final Offer BASIC - Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code BB - Bases on Balls BB - Best of Breed BB - Bunnies and Burrows BBA - Bachelor of Business Administration BBB - Better Business Bureau BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation BBL - Barrel BBN - Bolt, Beranek, and Newman BC - Battlecars BC - Before Christ BC - British Columbia BC/BS - Blue Cross/Blue Shield BCD - Bad Conduct Discharge BCD - Binary Coded Decimal BCDIC - Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code BCE - Before the Common Era (substitute for BC) BCP - Byte Controlled Protocols BCPL - Basic Combined Programming Language BCS - Bachelor of Commercial Science BCS - Binary Compatibility Standard BCS - Boston Computer Society BCS - British Computer Society BD - Bachelor of Divinity BD - Bank Draft BD - Bills Discounted BD&D - Basic Dungeons & Dragons BDF - Binary Distribution Format BDT - Billing Data Transmitter BE - Bill of Exchange BEF - British Expeditionary Force (see AEF) BELCORE - BELL COmmunications REsearch BEM - Bug Eyed Monster BENELUX - BElgium, NEtherlands, and LUXembourg BER - Bit Error Rate BEST - Borland Enhanced Support and Training BF - Brought Forward BFA - Bachelor of Fine Arts BFD - Big F***ing Deal BFHD - Big Fat Hairy Deal BH - Boot Hill BHP - Brake HorsePower BICS - Building Industry Consulting Services BID - Bis In Die (twice a day) BIOC - Break Into Other Computers BIOS - Basic Input Output System BIS - Business Information System BLAST - BLocked ASynchronous Transmission BLF - Busy Line Field BLT - BLock Transfer BLT - Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato BM - Basal Metabolism BM - Bowel Movement BMA - Bank Marketing Association BMEWS - Ballistic Missile Early Warning BMO - Ballistic Missile Office BMOC - Big Man On Campus BMR - Basal Metabolism Rate BNF - Bachus-Naur Form BO - Body Odor BO - Branch Office BO - Buyer's Option BOC - Bell Operating Company BOD - Board Of Directors BOF - Birds Of a Feather BOM - Bill Of Materials BOQ - Bachelor Officers' Quarters BOS - Business Office Supervisor BOSIX - Biin Open System Interface eXtension BP - Blood Pressure BP - British Pharmacopoeia BPI - Bits Per Inch BPOE - Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks BPS - Bits Per Second BR - Bills Receivable BR - British Rail BRIEF - Basic Reconfigurable Interactive Editing Facility BRL - army Ballistic Research Laboratory BRS - Bibliographic Retrieval Service BS - Bachelor of Science BS - Bill of Sale BSA - Birmingham Small Arms BSA - Boy Scouts of America BSC - Binary Synchronous Communication BSD - Berkeley Software Distribution BSN - Bachelor of Science in Nursing BSS - Block Started by Symbol BSTJ - Bell System Technical Journal BSc - Bachelor of SCience BTL - Bell Telephone Laboratories BTO - Bachman Turner Overdrive BTU - British Thermal Unit BTW - By The Way BThU - British Thermal Unit BU - Bushido BV - Blessed Virgin BWI - Baltimore-Washington International (airport) BWI - British West Indies BX - Base eXchange (see PX) Bit - BInary digiT C - programming language, successor to BCPL C&S - Chivalry & Sorcery C/O - in Care Of CA - California CA - Chartered Accountant CA - Chief Accountant CA - Chronological Age CAB - Civil Aeronautics Board CACM - Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery CAD - Computer Aided Design (sometimes seen as CAD/CAM) CAE - Common Applications Environment CAE - Computer Aided Engineering CAIS - Common Apse Interface Specification CALS - Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support CAM - Computer Aided Management CAM - Computer Aided Manufacturing (sometimes seen as CAD/CAM) CAM - Content Addressable Memory CAMA - Centralized Automatic Message Accounting CAMP - Campaign Against Marijuana Planting CAP - Civil Air Patrol CAP - Columbia Appletalk Package CAR - Contents of the Address part of the Register CASE - Computer Aided Software Engineering CASSIS - Classification and Search Support Information System CAT - Computer-Aided Tomography CATIS - Common Applications and Tools Integration Services CATV - Community Antenna TeleVision CAVU - Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited CB - Citizens Band radio CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBD - Cash Before Delivery CBD - Commerce Business Daily CBEMA - Computer & Business Equipment Manufacturers Association CBR - Chemical, Biological, Radiological warfare CBS - Columbia Broadcasting System CBW - Chemical and Biological Warfare CC - Carbon Copy CCA - Computer Corporation of America CCC - Canadian Committee on Cataloging CCC - Civil(ian) Conservation Corps CCC - Command, Control, and Communications CCCCM - CCC CounterMeasures (sometimes C^3CM) CCCI - Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence CCD - Charge Coupled Device (see CID) CCI - Computer Carrier Interrupt CCI - Computer Consoles, Incorporated CCIP - Continuously Computed Impact Point CCIS - Common Channel Interoffice Signaling CCITT - Comite' Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique CCR - Commitment, Concurrency, and Recovery CCR - Creedence Clearwater Revival CCRP - Continuously Computed Release Point CCSA - Common Control Switching Arrangement CCTA - Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency CCTV - Closed Circuit TeleVision CD - Certificate of Deposit CD - Civil Defense CD - Compact Disk CD-ROM - Compact Disk Read Only Memory CDA - Call Data Accumulator CDA - Compound Documents Architecture CDC - Centers for Disease Control CDC - Control Data Corporation, inc. CDEV - Control panel DEVice CDIAC - Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center CDO - Community Dial Office CDR - CommanDeR CDR - Contents of the Decrement part of the Register CDT - Central Daylight Time CDU - Control Display Unit CE - Chemical Engineer CE - Civil Engineer CE - Common Era (substitute for AD) CE - Corps of Engineers CE - Customer Engineer CEA - Council of Economic Advisors CEA - County Education Authority CEC - Commission of the European Communities CED - Committee for Economic Development CENS - Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Seclay CENTO - CENtral Treaty Organization CEO - Chief Executive Officer CERN - organisation (formerly Conseil) Europeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaires CERT - Computer Emergency Response Team CEVI - Common Equipment Voltage Indicator CF - Carry Forward CF - Coin First payphone CFC - Chloro-FluoroCarbon CFC - Combined Federal Campaign CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics CFI - Cost, Freight, and Insurance CFL - Canadian Football League CFO - Chief Financial Officer CG - Coast Guard CG - Commanding General CG&E - Cincinnati Gas & Electric CGA - Color Graphics Adapter CGCT - Compagnie Generale de Constructions Telephoniques CGE - Compagnie Generale d'Electricite CH - Cardboard Heroes CH - ClearingHouse CH - CourtHouse CH - Customs House CHA - Champions CHAP - CHAnnel Processor CHI - Chill: Adventures into the Unknown CHOTS - Corporate Headquarters Office Technology System CHP - California Highway Patrol CI - Cubic Inches CIA - Central Intelligence Agency CICA - Competition in Contracting Act CICS - Customer Information Control System CID - Central Institute for the Deaf CID - Charge Injection Device (see CCD) CID - Computer Integrated Design CIDIN - Common Icao Data Interchange Network CIM - Computer Integrated Manufacturing CIO - Chief Information Officer CISC - Complex Instruction Set Computer CIT - California Institute of Technology CIT - Case Institute of Technology (part of CWRU, Cleveland, OH) CLASP - Comprehensive Logistics Automated Support Program CLI - Command Line Interpreter CLR - Combined Line and Recording CLRC - Circuit Layout Record Card CLU - Chartered Life Underwriter CLUT - Color LookUp Table CM - Congregation of the Mission CMC - Communication Machinery Corp. CMD - Centralized Message Distribution CML - Current Model Logic CMMU - Cache/Memory Management Unit CMOS - Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS) CMRR - Common Mode Rejection Ratio CMS - Circuit Maintenance System CMSgt - Chief Master Sergeant CMU - Carnegie-Mellon University CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK CN - Canadian National (railways) CN/A - Customer Name / Address CNN - Cable News Network CNO - Chief of Naval Operations CNR - Canadian National Railways CNR - Carrier to Noise Ratio CNS - Central Nervous System CO - Cash Order CO - Central Office CO - Central Office (telephony) CO - Colorado CO - Commanding Officer CO - Conscientious Objector COB - Close Of Business COBOL - COmmon Business Oriented Language COC - Call of Cthulhu COD - Collect On Delivery; Cash On Delivery CODEC - COder-DECoder COER - Central Office Equipment Report COLA - Cost-Of-Living Allowance COMAS - Central Office Maintenance and Administration System COMPACT - COMmercial Product ACquisition Team CONS - Connection-Oriented Networking Session CORE - COntrolled Requirement Expression CORN - COmputer Resource Nucleus COS - Corporation for Open Systems COSMIC - COmmon System Main InterConnecting frame COSMIC - COmputer Software Management and Information Center COSMOS - COmputer System for Mainframe OperationS CP - Canadian Pacific CP - Chemically Pure CP - CoPy CP - Command Post CP - Command Processor CP - the Canadian Press CPA - Certified Public Accountant CPFF - Cost Plus Fixed Fee CPI - Characters Per Inch CPI - Common Programming Interface CPL - Combined Programming Language CPM - Control Program for Microcomputers (sometimes CP/M) CPO - Chief Petty Officer CPO - Chief Post Office CPO - Customer Premises Equipment CPR - Canadian Pacific Railway CPS - Characters Per Second CPSR - Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility CPT - CaPTain CPU - Central Processor Unit CPW - Certified Public Weigher CQ - Change of Quarters CQ - Charge of Quarters CR - Carriage Return (ASCII 15 octal) CRAM - Card Random Access Memory CRC - Chemical Rubber Company CRC - Cyclical Redundancy Character CREG - Concentrated Range Extension with Gain CRT - Cathode Ray Tube (also generic reference to a terminal) CRTC - Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission CS - Civil Servant CS - Computer Science; Computing Science CS - County Seat CSA - Confederate States of America CSAB - Computing Sciences Accreditation Board CSACS - Centralized Status, Alarm and Control System CSC - Computer Sciences Corporation CSDC - Circuit Switched Digital Capability CSF - Critical Success Factor CSI - Commercial Systems Integration CSIS - Canadian Security and Intelligence Service CSL - Coin Supervising Link CSM - Command Sergeant Major CSMA/CD - Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection CSO - Central Services Organization CSOC - Consolidated Space Operations Center (at Colorado Springs) CSP - Control Switching Point CSR - Control and Status Register CSRG - Computer Systems Research Group CSRS - civil Service Retirement System CSS - Customer Switching System CST - Central Standard Time CT - Central Time CT - Connecticut CTC - Canadian Transport Commission CTC - Centralized Traffic Control (railways) CTD - Computing and Telecommunications Division CTIO - Cerro Tololo Inter-american Observatory CTNE - Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana CTS - Compatible Timesharing System CTV - Canadian TeleVision network CU - Close-Up CUA - Common User Access CV - Curriculum Vitae CW - Car Wars CW - Chemical Warfare CW - Child Welfare CW - Churchwarden CW - Continuous Wave CWO - Cash With Order CWO - Chief Warrant Officer CWRU - Case Western Reserve University CXI - Common X-windows Interface CY - Calendar Year CYO - Catholic Youth Organization CZ - Canal Zone D - Depth D&D - Dungeons & Dragons D/A - Digital to Analog converter D/F - Direction Finding DA - Days after Acceptance DA - Department of Agriculture DA - Deposit Account DA - Directory Assistance (/C = computerized, /M = Microfilm) DA - District Attorney DA - Don't Answer DAC - Digital to Analog Converter DACCS - Digital Access Cross Connect System DAD - Draft ADdendum DAR - Daughters of the American Revolution DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DASD - Direct Access Storage Device DAT - Digital Audio Tape DATA - Defense Air Transport Administration DAV - Disabled American Veterans DB - DataBase DB - DeciBels DBF - DBase Format DBME - DataBase Managment Environment DBMS - DataBase Management System (rdbms for Relational ...) DBRAD - Data Base Relational Application Directory DC - Direct Current (dc, see also AC) DC - District of Columbia DCA - Defense Communications Agency DCA - Distributed Communication Architecture DCA - Document Content Architecture DCC - Descriptive Cataloging Committee DCCO - Defense Commercial Communications Office DCE - Data Communication Equipment DCL - Digital Command Language DCP - Distributed Communications Processor DCTS - Dimension Custom Telephone Service DD - Daredevils DD - Data Dictionary DD - Days after Date DD - Demand Draft DD - Dishonorable Discharge DD - Disk Drive DD - Doctor of Divinity DDC - Digital Data Converter DDD - Direct Distance Dial(ing) DDL - Document Description Language DDN - Defense Data Network DDP - Distributed Data Processing DDS - Doctor of Dental Science DDS - Doctor of Dental Surgery DE - Delaware DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency DEAR - Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation DEC - Digital Equipment Corporation DES - Data Encryption Standard DEW - Distant Early Warning (as in DEW Line) DF - Damage Free DF - Direction Finding DFC - Distinguished Flying Cross DFD - Data Flow Diagram DFE - Data Flow Editor DFM - Distinguished Flying Medal DFS - Depth-First Search DFW - Dallas-Ft.Worth (regional airport) DG - Dei Gratia (by the grace of God) DG - Director General DGSC - Defense General Supply Center DHHS - Department of Health and Human Services DHSS - british Department of Health and Social Security DIA - Document Interchange Architecture DIAD - (magnetic) Drum Information Assembler / Dispatcher DIAL - Direct Information Access Line DIAS - Defense Automatic Integrated System DID - Direct Inward Dialing DIF - Document Interchange Format DIN - Deutsches Institut fur Normung DIRE - Dire Is Really Emacs DIS - Draft International Standard (ISO) DISOSS - DIStributed Office Support System DIY - Do It Yourself DJ - Disc Jockey DLA - Defense Logistics Agency DLL - Dial Long Line equipment DLO - Dead Letter Office DM - Dungeon Master DMA - Direct Memory Access DMD - Doctor of Dental Medicine DME - Distance Measuring Equipment DMOS - Diffusion Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS) DMV - Department of Motor Vehicles DMZ - DeMilitarized Zone DNA - DeoxyriboNucleic Acid DNA - Digital Network Architecture DNHR - Dynamic NonHierarchical Routing DNIC - Data Network Identification Code DNL - Director of Naval Laboratories DNR - Dialed Number Recorder DOA - Dead On Arrival DOB - Date Of Birth DOC - Dynamic Overload Control DOD - Department Of Defense DOE - Department of Energy DOMAIN - Distributed Operating Multi Access Interactive Network (Apollo) DOS - Disk Operating System DOT - Department Of Transportation DOT&E - Director, Operational Test and Evaluation DP - Data Processing DP - Dial Pulse DP - Displaced Persons (expelled from native land) DP - Display Postscript DP - Double Play DP - Draft Proposal DPA - Delegation of Procurement Authority DPANS - Draft Proposed American National Standard DPI - Dots Per Inch DPS - Display PostScript DQ - Dairy Queen DQ - Dragon Quest DQL - Database Query Language DR - Dead Reckoning DR - Dining Room DRAM - Dynamic Random Access Memory (as opposed to static RAM) DRD - Data Reading Device DRE - Directional Reservation Equipment DRG - Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany) DRI - Digital Research, Incorporated DS - Double-Sided DSA - Dial System Assistance DSE - Data Structure Editor DSEE - Domain Software Engineering Environment DSM - Distinguished Service Medal DSO - Distinguished Service Order DSP - Decessit Sine Prole (died without issue) DSP - Digital Signal Processing DSRI - Digital Standard Relational Interface DSS - Decision Support System DSS - Direct Station Selection DST - Daylight Saving Time DSTN - Double SuperTwisted Nematic DT - Delirium Tremens DTE - Data Terminal Equipment DTF - Dial Tone First payphone DTMF - Dial Tone Multi Frequency DTP - DeskTop Publishing DTR - Data Terminal Ready DUI - Driving Under the Influence DUT - Device Under Test DV - Deo Vo lente (God willing) DVM - Digital Volt Meter DVM - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine DWAPS - Defense Warehousing Automated Processing System DWI - Driving While Intoxicated DWIM - Do What I Mean DX - Distance (as in long distance radio communication) DXT - Data eXtractT facility E - East E - Espionage E&EO - Errors and Omissions Excepted E-MAIL - Electronic MAIL EADASS - Engineering and Administrative Data AcquiSition System EAS - Extended Area Service (or Engineering Admin. System) EBCDIC - Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code ECAFE - Economic Commission for Africa and the Far East ECASS - Electronically Controlled Automatic Switching System ECASS - Export Control Automated Support System ECC - Error Correction Code ECCM - Electronic Counter-CounterMeasures ECDO - Electronic Community Dial Office ECG - ElectroCardioGram ECL - Emitter Coupled Logic (see also TTL) ECM - Electronic Counter Measure ECM - European Common Market ECO - Electronic Central Office ECO - Engineering Change Order ECT - ElectroConvulsive Therapy ED&D - Expert Dungeons & Dragons EDGAR - Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval EDI - Electronic Data Interchange EDIF - Electronic Design Interchange Format EDP - Electronic Data Processing EDS - Electronic Data Systems EDT - Eastern Daylight Time EDTA - Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid EDTCC - Electronic Data Transmission Communications Central EE - Electrical Engineer EE - Electrical or Electronics Engineer EEC - European Economic Community EEG - ElectroEncephaloGram EEL - Epsilon Extension Language EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory EGA - Enhanced Graphics Adapter EHF - Extremely High Frequency (30-300GHz) EINE - EINE Is Not Emacs EISA - Extended Industry-Standard Architecture EISS - European Intelligence Support System EKG - ElectroKardioGramm (see ECG) EL - ElectroLuminescent (as in display) ELF - Extremely Low Frequency ELO - Electric Light Orchestra ELP - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (or Powell) EM - Enlisted Man (see EW) EMA - Electronic Mail Association EMACS - Editor MACroS EMACS - Eight Megabytes And Constantly Swapping EMF - ElectroMotive Force EMI - ElectroMagnetic Interference EMP - Electromagnetic Pulse EMPRESS - EnvironMental Pulse Radiation Environment Simulator for Ships EMR - ElectroMagnetic Response EMS - Electronic Message System EMS - Extended Memory Specification EMT - Emergency Medical Technician EMU - ElectroMagnetic Unit ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator ENS - ENSign EO - End Office EO - Erasable Optical EOF - End Of File EOM - End Of Month EP - Experience Points EP - Extended Play EPA - Environmental Protection Agency EPOS - Engineering and Project-management Oriented Support system EPRI - Electric Power Research Institute EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory EPS - Encapsulated PostScript EPT - Empire of the Petal Throne EQ - Educational Quotient (see IQ) ER - Emergency Room ERA - Earned Run Average ERA - Entity-Relationship-Attribute ERA - Equal Rights Amendment ERD - Entity-Relation Diagram ERE - Entity Relationship Editor ES - Expert System ESA - European Space Agency ESAC - Electronic Systems Assistance Center ESDI - Enhanced Standard Device Interface ESE - East South East ESM - Electronic Support Measures ESO - European Southern Observatory ESP - Extra Sensory Perception ESPS - Entropic Signal Processing System ESS - Electronic Switching System ESSEX - Experimental Solid State EXchange EST - Eastern Standard Time ET - Eastern Time ET - ExtraTerrestrial ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival ETC - Et cetera, and so on... ETD - Estimated Time of Departure ETFD - Electronic Toll Fraud Device ETH - Eidgnoessiche Techniche Hochschule ETS - Electronic Translator System ETV - Education TeleVision EUUG - European Unix User Group EVA - ExtraVehicular Activity EVX - Electronic Voice eXchange EW - Electronic Warfare EW - Enlisted Woman (see EM) EWOS - European Workshop for Open Systems FA - Football Association (British soccer--a word derived from Association) FAA - Federal Aviation Agency FACD - Foreign Area Customer Dialing FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the united states FAR - Federal Acquisition Regulations FAS - Foreign Agricultural Service FAS - Free Alongside Ship FASST - Flexible Architecture Standard System Technology FAT - Foreign Area Translation FAX - FAcsimile FB - Freight Bill FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation FCC - Federal Communication Commission FCC - Federal Computer Conference FDA - Food and Drug Administration FDDI - Fiber Distributed Data Interface FDHD - Floppy Drive High Density FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDM - Frequency Division Multiplexing FDR - Franklin Delano Roosevelt FEA - Finite Element Analysis FEDSIM - FEDeral Systems Integration and Management center FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency FEPC - Fair Employment Practices Commission FERS - Federal Employees Retirement System FET - Federal Excise Tax FET - Field Effect Transistor FFA - Future Farmers of America FFT - Fast Fourier Transform FHA - Federal Home Administration FHA - Future Homemakers of America FIB - Focused Ion Beam FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act FIDO - Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation FIFO - First In First Out (as in registers and buffers) FILO - First In Last Out (see also FIFO) FIMS - Forms Interface Management System FINE - FINE Is Not Emacs FIO - Frequency In and Out FIPS - Federal Information Processing Standard FIR - Finite Impulse Response FIRMR - Federal Information Resource Management Regulation FIT - Federal Information Technologies, inc. FL - Florida FLACC - Full Level Algol Checkout Compiler FLOPS - FLoating-point OPerations per Second FLRA - Federal Labor Relations Authority FM - Frequency Modulation FMB - Federal Maritime Board FMCS - Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service FMS - Financial Management Service (Treasury Dept) FMS - Forms Management System FO - Foreign Office FO - Forward Observer FOAC - Federal Office Automation Center FOB - Free On Board FOC - Free Of Charge FOIA - Freedom Of Information Act FOIMS - Field Office Information Management System FOOBAR - See FUBAR FOR - Free On Rail FORCS - Faa's Operational Reporting Communication System FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily FORD - Found On Road Dead FORTRAN - FORmula TRANslator FOSE - Federal Office Systems Exposition FOT - Free On Truck FOV - Field Of View FPA - Floating Point Accelerator FPC - Fish Protein Concentrate FPE - Floating Point Engine FPHA - Federal Public Housing Authority FPLA - Field Programmable Logic Array (see PLA) FPM - Feet Per Minute FPO - Field Post Office FPO - Fleet Post Office FPS - Feet Per Second FRACTAL - FRACTional dimensionAL FRED - Fred Resembles Emacs Deliberately FRG - Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) FROG - Free Rocket Over Ground FRPG - Fantasy Role Playing Game FRS - Federal Reserve System FSF - Free Software Foundation FSK - Frequency Shift Keying FSLIC - Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation FSS - Federal Supply Service FSW - Forward Swept Wings FT - Foot FTAM - File Transfer And Management FTC - Federal Trade Commission FTL - Faster Than Light FTP - File Transfer Protocol FTS - Federal Telephone System FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition FW - Fringeworthy FWD - Front Wheel Drive FWHM - Full Width at Half Maximum FX - Foreign eXchange FY - Fiscal Year FYI - For Your Information GA - Gamblers Anonymous GA - General Assembly GA - General Average GA - General of the Army GA - Georgia GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAN - Global Area Network GAR - Grand Army of the Republic GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GAW - Guaranteed Annual Wage GB - Gangbusters GB - GigaByte GB - Great Britain GBIP - General Purpose Interface Bus GC - Garbage Collection (LISP) GC - Gas Chromatograph (or Chromatography) GCA - Ground Controlled Approach GCC - Gnu C Compiler GCD - Ground Controlled Descent GCL - Graphics Command Language GCM - General Court Martial GCR - Group-Coded Recording (magnetic tape, 6250 bpi) GCT - Greenwich Civil Time GDB - Gnu DeBugger GE - General Electric GEM - Graphics Environment Manager GHQ - General HeadQuarters GHz - Giga HertZ (unit of frequency, 1,000,000,000 cycles per second) GI - Galvanized Iron GI - Gastro Intestinal (as in upper GI) GI - General Issue GI - Government Issue GIF - Graphics Interchange Format GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out GIN - Graphics INput GISS - Goddard Institute for Space Studies GKS - Graphical Kernel Standard GM - Game Master GM - General Manager GM - General Motors GM - Guided Missile GMBH - Gesellschaft Mit Beschraenkter Haftung GMT - Greenwich Mean Time GNP - Gross National Product GNU - GNU's Not Unix GOES - Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellites GOSIP - Government OSI Profile GP - General Practitioner GPI - Graphics Programming Interface GPIB - General-Purpose Interface Bus GPO - General Post Office GPO - Government Printing Office GPS - Global Positioning System GQ - General Quarters GRB - Gamma Ray Burst(er) GREP - Global Regular Expression Print, g/re/p, (UNIX command) GRO - Gamma Ray Observatory GS - General Schedule GS - Glide Slope GSA - General Services Administration GSA - Girl Scouts of America GSBCA - General Services administration Board of Contract Appeals GSFC - Goddard Space Flight Center GSTS - Ground-based Surveillance and Tracking System GT - Gross Ton GTE - General Telephone and Electric GTSI - Government Technology Services, inc. GUI - Graphical User Interface GW - Gamma World GWEN - Ground Wave Emergency Network H - Harn H - Height HACD - Home Area Customer Dialing HAL - Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer (2001) HAM - Hold And Modify HBM - Her British Majesty; His British Majesty HBO - Home Box Office HC - Holy Communion HC - House of Commons HCFA - Health Care Financing Administration HCL - High Cost of Living HD - Hard Disk HD - Heavy Duty HDA - Head Disk Assembly (in winchester disk drives) HDBV - Host Data Base View HDL - High Density Lipoprotein HDLC - High-level Data Link Control (IBM network stuff) HDTV - High Definition Television HE - His Eminence; His Excellency HEAO - High Energy Astronomical Observatory HEMP - Help End Marijuana Prohibition HERO - Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance HF - High Fantasy HF - High Frequency (3-30MHz) HFE - Human Factors Engineering HFS - Hierarchical File System HI - Hawaii HIIPS - Hud Integrated Information Processing Services HLL - High-Level Language HMOS - High performance Metal Oxide Semiconductor (see MOS) HMS - His/Her Majesty's Ship HMT - His/Her Majesty's Transport HNPA - Home Numbering Plan Area HOBIS - HOtel Billing Information System HOL - High-Order System HP - Hewlett Packard, inc. HP - High Pressure HP - Higher Power (sort of an AA "in" term, usually God) HP - Hit Points HP - HorsePower HPGe - High Purity Germanium HPL/T - High-Productivity Languages/Tools HQ - HeadQuarters HR - House of Representatives HRH - Her Royal Highness HRH - His Royal Highness HS - High School HSB - Hue, Saturation, Brightness HST - Hawaiian Standard Time HT - High Tension (as in electric power transmission) HTK - Hits To Kill HUAC - House Unamerican Activities Committee HUD - Heads Up Display HUD - Housing and Urban Development HVAC - Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning HW2000 - Highway 2000 HWM - High-Water Mark Hb - HemogloBin Hz - HertZ (unit of frequency, cycles per second) I/O - Input/Output IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency IATA - International Air Transport Association IBM - International Business Machines, inc. IC - Integrated Circuit ICB - Interstate Computer Bank ICBM - InterContinental Ballistic Missile ICE - In-Circuit Emulator ICI - Imperial Chemical Industries ICJ - International Court of Justice ICL - International Computers Ltd. ICP - Integrated Channel Processor ICP - Inventory Control Points ICRC - International Cosmic Ray Conference ID - IDentification ID - Idaho IDA - Intercommunication Data Areas IDA - International Development Association IDDD - International Direct Distance Dialing IDE - Interactive Development Environments, inc IDF - Intermediate Distributing Frame IE - Indo-European IEE - Institute of Electrical Engineers (UK) IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IF - Intermediate Frequency (as in IF stage) IFB - Invitation For Bids IFC - International Finance Corporation IFC - International Freighting Corporation IFF - Identification - Friend or Foe IFF - Interchange File Format IFLA - International Federation of Library Associations IGES - Initial Graphics Exchange Standard IGY - International Geophysical Year IHP - Indicated HorsePower IHS - Integrated Hospital Support IIA - Information Industry Association IIE - Institute of Industrial Engineers IIHF - International Ice Hockey Federation IIL - Integrated Injection Logic ILO - International Labor Organization ILS - Instrument Landing System IMF - International Monetary Fund IMHO - In My Humble Opinion IMP - Interface Message Processor (ARPAnet) IMSL - International Mathematical Subroutine Library IN - Indiana INADS - INitialization and ADministration System INRA - Iesus Nazerenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) INRIA - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique INS - Immigration and Naturalization Service INSTITUTE - INSTITUTE's Name Shows That It's Totally Unrelated To EMACS INTAP - INteroperability Technology Association for information Processing INWATS - INward Wide Area Telephone Service IO - Input/Output (sometimes I/O) IOD - Identified Outward Dialing IOOF - International Order of Odd Fellows IOU - I Owe you (U) IP - Innings Pitched IP - Intermediate Point IPC - Inter-Process Communication IPE - Integrated Programming Environment IPMS - InterPersonal Message Services IPS - Information Processing Standards IPSE - Integrated Project-Support Environment IQ - Intelligence Quotient (see EQ) IR - Index Register IRA - Individual Retirement Account IRA - Irish Republican Army IRAS - Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRBM - Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile IRDS - Information Resource Dictionary Standard IRDS - InfraRed Detection Set IRE - Institute of Radio Engineers (old name for the now IEEE, which see) IRM - Information Resources Management IRMS - Information Resources Management Service IRS - Internal Revenue Service IS - Information Systems IS - International Standard ISA - Industry-Standard Architecture ISAM - Indexed Sequential Access Method ISBD - International Bibliographic Description ISC - Information Services Center ISC - International Switching Center ISCH - Interstitial-Cell-Stimulating Hormone (same as LH) ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network ISDT - Integrated Systems Development Tool ISEE - International Sun Earth Explorer (usually ISEE-3) ISF - Information Systems Factory ISFUG - Integrated Software Federal User Group ISO - International Standards Organization ISOO - Information Security Oversight Office ISPM - International Solar Polar Mission ISR - Institute of Snow Research ISRG - Independent Space Research Group ISV - Independent Software Vendor IT - Industrial Technology IT - Information Technology ITC - Inter-Task Communication ITS - Incompatible Timesharing System ITT - International Telephone and Telegraph ITU - International Telecommunications Union ITUSA - IT Users Standards Association IUS - Inertial Upper Stage JACM - Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery JBS - John Birch Society JC - Jesus Christ JC - Joint Compound (plumbing) JC - Julius Caesar JC - Junior College JCA - Jewelry Crafts Association JCAC - Joint Civil Affairs Committee JCAE - Joint Committee on Atomic Energy JCEE - Joint Council on Economic Education JCET - Joint Council on Educational Television JCS - Joint Chiefs of Staff JD - Justice Department JDS - John Dewey Society JES - John Ericsson Society JFK - John F. Kennedy (international airport) JFMIP - Joint Financial Management Improvement Program JGR - Journal of Geophysical Research JI - Justice, Inc. JIC - Joint Intelligence Center JIC - Just in Case JIM - Job Information Memorandum JINTACCS - Joint INteroperability of TActical Command and Control Systems JIS - Japan Industrial Standards JISC - Japanese Industrial Standards Committee JIT - Just In Time JMS - John Milton Society JO - Job Order JO - Junior Officer JOVE - Jonathan's Own Version of Emacs JOVIAL - Jules Own Version of the International Algorithmic Language JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory JRC - Junior Red Cross JSC - Johnson Space Center JSD - Jackson System Development JSRC - Joint Services Review Committee JTIDS - Joint Tactical Information Distribution Systems JV - Junior Varsity K&R - Kernighan and Ritchie, the c programming language K9 - canine (K9 corps - army dogs) KB - KiloByte KC - King's Counsel (QC when queen reigning) KC - Knights of Columbus KD - Kiln Dried KD - Knocked Down KDCI - Key Display Call Indicator KERMIT - Kl-10 Error-free Reciprocal Micro Interconnect over Tty lines KHz - Kilo HertZ (unit of frequency, 1000 cycles per second) KI - Kiwanis International KIA - Killed In Action KIAS - Knot Indicated Air Speed KO - Knock Out KP - Key Pulse KP - Kitchen Police KPNO - Kitt Peak National Observatory KPO - KeyPunch Operator KQC - King's College London KS - King's Scholar KSC - Kennedy Space Center KSU - Key Service Unit KTS - Key Telephone System KTU - Key Telephone Unit KWIC - Key Word In Context KY - Kentucky LA - Los Angeles LA - Louisiana LA - Low Altitude LADAR - LAser Detection And Ranging LAM - Master of Liberal Arts LAMA - Local Automatic Message Accounting LAN - Local Apparent Noon LAN - Local Area Network LAR - Local Acquisition Radar LASER - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation LAT - Local Apparent Time LATA - Local Access Transport Area LAX - Los Angeles International Airport LB - Light Bomber LB - pound (LiBra) LBHS - Long Beach High School LBL - Lawrence Berkeley Labs LC - inductor-Capacitor circuit (as in filters, L is symbol inductance) LCD - Liquid Crystal Display LCD - Lowest Common Denominator LCDR - Lieutenant Commander LCM - Life Cycle Management LCT - Landing Craft Tanks LDEF - Long Duration Exposure Facility LDL - Low Density Lipoprotein LDX - Long Distance eXtender LEAP - Low-power Enhanced At Portable LED - Light Emitting Diode LEM - Lunar Excursion Module LF - Low Frequency (30-300KHz) LH - Left Hand LH - Lower Half LH - Luteinizing Hormone (same as ISCH) LHD - Litterarum Humaniorum Doctor (doctor of human letters) LHS - Left Hand Side LI - Long Island LIFIA - Laboratoire d'Informatique Fondamentale et d'Intelligence Artificielle LIFO - Last In First Out (see FIFO) LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer LISP - LISt Processing Language LIU - Line Interface Unit LL - Late Latin LL - Long Lines LLAMA - Logic Lacking A Meaningful Acronym LLB - Legum Baccalaureus (bachelor of laws) LLD - Legum doctor (doctor of laws) LLN - Line Link Network LLNL - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories LLP - Line Link Pulsing LM - Life Master (Contract Bridge ranking) LM - Lunar Module LMC - Large Magellanic Cloud (see SMC) LMOS - Line Maintenance Operations System LNG - Liquified Natural Gas LOA - Lands of Adventure LOOPS - Lisp Object Oriented Programming System LOP - Lines Of Position LOTS - Low Overhead Timesharing System LP - Long Playing record LP - Low Pressure LPC - Linear Predictive Coding (speech processing) LPDA - Link Problem Determination Aid LPF - League for Programming Freedom LPG - Liquified Petroleum Gas LPG - Low Pressure Gas LPN - Licensed Practical Nurse LPP - Licensed Program Products LPR - Line PrinteR LRBM - Long Range Ballistic Missile LRC - Longitudinal Redundancy Character LRU - Line Replaceable Unit LS - Left Side LS - Letter Signed LS - Locus Sigilli (place of seal) LSB - Least Significant Bit; Least Significant Byte LSC - LightSpeed C LSD - Least Significant Digit LSD - LySergic acid Diethylamide LSD - pounds (Libra), shillings (Sestertii), and (old) pence (Denarii) LSI - Large Scale Integration LSP - LightSpeed Pascal LSS - Life Support System LSS - Loop Switching System LSSD - Level-Sensitive Scan Detection LT - Long Ton LT - Low Tension LTC - Lieutenant Colonel LTJG - Lieutenant Junior Grade LTL - Less than Truckload Lot LUG - Local Users Group LUT - Look-Up Table LWM - Low-Water Mark LZ - Landing Zone M - Miniatures MA - Massachusetts MAAP - Maintenance And Administration Panel MAC - Military Air Command MACSYMA - project MAC's SYmbolic MAnipulation System MAD - Mutual Assured Destruction MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving MAG - Magazine MAN - Metropolitan Area Network MAP - Manufacturing Automation Protocol MARBI - MAchine Readable form of Bibliographic Information MARC - MAchine Readable card Catalog MARS - Multiuser Archival and Retrieval System MASC - Multiple Award Schedule Contract MASER - Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation MASH - Mobile Army Surgical Hospital MAST - Multi-Application SOnar Trainer MAT-CALS - Marine Air Traffic-Control And Landing System MAU - Math Acceleration Unit MB - MegaByte MBA - Master Business Administration MC - Master of Ceremonies MCA - Micro Channel Architecture MCAE - Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering MCC - Master Control Console MCC - Microelectronics and Computer technology Corporation MCP - Master Control Program MCP/AS - Master Control Program/Advanced System MCPO - Master Chief Petty Officer MD - Maryland MD - Medical Doctor MD - Months after Date MDAS - Magnetic Drum Auxiliary Sender MDE - Modular Design Environment MDF - Main Distribution Frame MDT - Mean Down Time ME - Maine ME - Mechanical Engineer MERP - Middle-Earth Role Playing MEd - Master of EDucation MF - Medium Frequency (300-3000KHz) MF - Middle French MF - Multi-Frequency MFA - Master Fine Arts MFLOPS - Million FLoating-point OPerations per Second MFM - Modified Frequency Modulation MFS - Macintosh File System MG - Machine Gun MG - Major General MG - Military Government MGH - Massachusetts General Hospital MGM - Metro-Goldwyn Mayer MHD - MagnetoHydroDynamics MHz - Mega HertZ (unit of frequency, 1,000,000 cycles per second) MI - Michigan MI - Military Intelligence MIA - Missing In Action MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface MIFASS - Marine Integrated Fire And Support System MILNET - MILitary NETwork MIM - Morality In Media MIMD - Multiple Instruction, Multiple Data MINCE - MINCE Is Not Complete Emacs MIPS - Million Instructions Per Second MIRV - Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle MIS - Management Information Systems MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology ML - Middle Latin MLA - Member of Legislative Assembly (see MPP) MLD - Minimum Lethal Dose MLS - Microwave Landing System MLS - Multi-Level Security MM - Maryknoll Missioners MMES - Martin Marietta Energy Systems MMFS - Manufacturing Message Format Standard MMM - see 3M MMU - Memory Management Unit MN - Minnesota MNA - Member of National Assembly (Quebec) MNP - Microcom Networking Protocol MO - Mail Order MO - Medical Officer MO - Missouri MO - Modus Operandi MO - Money Order MOR - Middle-Of-the-Road MOS - Metal Oxide Semiconductor MOSFET - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor MOTIS - Message-Oriented Text Interchange System MOU - Memorandum Of Understanding MOUSE - Minimum Orbital Unmanned Satellite of Earth MP - Melting Point MP - Member of Parliament MP - Metropolitan Police MP - Military Police(man) MPG - Miles Per Gallon MPH - Miles Per Hour MPP - Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada; also MLA) MPW - Macintosh Programmer's Workshop MR - Miniatures Rules MRP - Manufacturing Requirements Planning MS - ManuScript MS - Master of Science MS - Military Science MS - Motor Ship MS - Multiple Sclerosis MS-DOS - MicroSoft DOS MSB - Most Significant Bit; Most Significant Byte MSC - MicroSoft C MSCP - Mass Storage Control Protocol MSD - Most Significant Digit MSE - Mobile Subscriber Equipment MSG - MonoSodium Glutamate MSH - Marvel Super Heroes MSL - Mean Sea Level MSPE - Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes MSS - Management Support System MSS - ManuScriptS MSS - Mass Storage System MST - Mountain Standard Time MT - Metric Ton MT - Mountain Time MTA - Message Transfer Agent MTA - Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTBF - Mean Time Between Failures MTR - Magnetic Tape Recording MTSO - Mobile Telephone Switching Office MTTF - Mean Time To Failure MTV - Music TeleVision MUF - Maximum Usable Frequency (max freq during sunspot activity) MULTICS - MULTiplex Information Computer Services MUMPS - Mgh Utility MultiProgram System MUNG - Mung Until No Good (see the hacker's dictionary) MUX - MUltipleXor MVA - MegaVolt Ampere MX - Missile eXperimental MeV - Million Electron Volts N - North N - Notice NA - Narcotics Anonymous NA - North America NA - Not Applicable NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAAS - North American Automated Systems co. NAB - National Association of Broadcasters NABISCO - NAtional BIScuit COmpany NACS - National Advisory Committee on Semiconductors NAD - Network Access Device NADGE - NATO Air Defense Ground Environment NAG - Numerical Algorithms Group NAGE - National Association of Government Employees NAK - Negative AcKnowledge NAPAP - National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program NAR - Nuclear Acoustic Resonance NARDAC - NAvy Regional Data Automation Center NAS - National Academy of Sciences NAS - National Advanced Systems NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA/GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization NAVDAC - NAVal Data Automation Command NAVSWC - NAV Surface Weapons Center NB - New Brunswick NB - Nota Bene NBA - National Basketball Association NBC - National Broadcasting Company NBFM - NarrowBand Frequency Modulation NBO - Network Build Out NBS - National Bureau of Standards NBVM - Narrow Band Voice Modulation NC - No Charge NC - North Carolina NCA - Network Control Analysis NCC - National Computer Conference NCDC - National Climatic Data Center NCE - New Catholic Edition NCGA - National Computer Graphics Association NCIC - National Cartographic Information Center NCO - Non-Commissioned Officer NCP - Network Control Program NCR - National Cash Register NCS - Network Computing System NCSA - National Center for Supercomputing Applications NCSC - National Computer Security Center NCTL - National Computer and Telecommunications Laboratory NCV - No Commercial Value ND - No Date ND - North Dakota NDA - Non-Disclosure Agreement NDDL - Neutral Data Definition Language NDE - News Development Environment NDEA - National Defense Education Act NDL - Network Database Language NDP - New Democratic Party (Canada) NDSL - National Direct Student Loan NDT - Newfoundland Daylight Time NE - New England NE - North East NEAR - National Electronic Accounting and Reporting system NEB - New English Bible NEC - Nippon Electric Company NEI - Not Elsewhere Included NES - National Energy Strategy NES - Not Elsewhere Specified NESC - National Energy Software Center NET - NETwork NET - National Educational Television NEWS - Network extensible Window System NEXRAD - NEXt generation weather RADar NF - No Funds NFC - National Football Conference NFFE - National Federation of Federal Employees NFL - National Football League NFS - Network File System NG - National Guard NG - No Good NH - New Hampshire NHI - National Health Insurance NHL - National Hockey League (the "nation" is Canada, BTW) NIC - Network Information Center (ARPAnet) NIH - National Institutes of Health NIH - Not Invented Here NIM - Nuclear Instrumentation Module (an electronic instr. standard) NIMH - National Institute of Mental Health NIS - Network Information System (formerly yp) NISO - National Information Standards Organization NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly NBS) NJ - New Jersey NL - National League (baseball) NLM - National Library of Medicine NLP - Natural Language Processing NLRB - National Labor Relations Board NLS - Network License Server NM - Nautical Mile NM - New Mexico NM - Night Message NM - No Mark; Not Marked NMOS - N channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (N-MOS) (see MOS) NMR - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance NNE - North North East NNTP - Net News Transfer Protocol NNW - North North West NOA - NSWC Office Automation NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NORAD - NORth American Defense Command NORML - National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws NOS - Not Otherwise Specified NOSC - Naval Ocean Systems Center NOTIS - Network Operator Trouble Information System NP - No Protest NP - Nondeterministic-Polynomial NP - Notary Public NP - Noun Phrase NPA - Number Plan Area NPC - Non-Player Character (see PC) NPL - Non-Procedural Language NPN - Negative-Positive-Negative (transistor) NPN - NonProtein Nitrogen NPR - National Public Radio NQS - Network Queuing System NRA - National Rifle Association NRC - National Research Council NRC - Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRE - Non-Recurring Engineering (as in NRE costs) NRL - Naval Research Labs NRO - National Reconnaissance Office NRZ - Non-Return to Zero NRZI - Non-Return to Zero Indicates NRZI - Non-Return to Zero Inverted (magnetic tape, 800 bpi) NS - Not Specified NS - Nova Scotia NS - Nuclear Ship NSA - National Security Agency NSC - National Security Council NSE - Network Software Environment NSF - National Science Foundation NST - Newfoundland Standard Time NSW - New South Wales NSWC - Naval Surface Warfare Center NSWC - Naval Surface Weapons Center NT - New Testament NT - Newfoundland Time NT - Northern Territory NTEU - National Treasury Employees Union NTIS - National Technical Information Service NTN - Neutralized Twisted Nematic NTP - Normal Temperature and Pressure (see STP) NTSB - National Transportation Safety Board NTSC - National Television Standards Committee NTSC - Never The Same Color NTT - Nippon Telephone & Telegraph NU - Name Unknown NURBS - NonUniform Rational B-Spline NUSC - Naval Underwater Systems Command NV - Nevada NW - North West NWS - National Weather Service NWT - North West Territories NY - New York NYC - New York City NYSE - New York Stock Exchange NZ - New Zealand NZUSUGI - New Zealand Unix System User Group, Inc. OA - Office Automation OA - Overeaters Anonymous OAS - Organization of American States OATS - Office Automation Technology and Services OBE - Order of the British Empire OBS - Omni Bearing Selector OC - Order of Canada OCDM - Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization OCI - Out of City Indicator OCLC - Online Computer Library Center (Ohio College Library Catalog) OCO - Object Code Only OCR - Optical Character Recognition OCS - Officer Candidate School OD - Doctor of Optometry OD - Oculus Dexter (right eye) OD - Officer of the Day OD - OverDose ODI - Optical Digital Image ODISS - Optical Digital Image Storage System OE - Old English OED - Oxford English Dictionary OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer OEO - Office of Economic Opportunity OES - Order of the Eastern Star OF - Old French OFM - Order of Friars Minor OFS - Order of Free State OG - Original Gum OH - Ohio OIRA - Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs OIU - Office Interface Unit OJT - On the Job Training OLTP - On-Line Transaction Processing OMB - Office of Management and Budget OMD - Orchestral Manouevers in the Dark OMV - Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle ON - Old Norse ONC - Open Network Computing ONI - Office of Naval Intelligence ONI - Operator Number Identification ONR - Office of Naval Research OOP - Object Oriented Programming OOPART - Out Of Place ARTifact OOPS - Object-Oriented Programming System OP - OFFICEPOWER office automation system, trademark of CCI OP - Observation Post OP - Order of Preachers OP - Out of Print OPEC - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPM - Office of Personnel Management OR - Operating Room OR - Oregon OR - Owner's Risk, Own Risk ORNL - Oak Ridge National Laboratory OROM - Optical Read Only Memory OS - Oculus Sinister (left eye) OS - Operating System OS - Ordinary Seaman OS - Out of Stock OSB - Order of St. Benedict OSCAR - Orbiting Satellite Carry Amateur Radio (1st launched 12 Dec 1961) OSCRL - Operating System Command Response Language OSD - Office of the Secretary of Defense OSDIT - Office of Software Development and Information Technology OSF - Open Software Foundation OSF - Order of St. Francis OSI - Open Systems Interconnection OSI/RM - Open Systems Interconnection/Reference Model OSME - Open Systems Message Exchange OSP - Optical Storage Processor OSS - Office Support System OSS - Office of Strategic Services (later CIA) OSS - Operation Support System OSTP - Office of Science and Technology Policy OT - Old Testament OT - OverTime OT&LF - Open Taxi & Limousine Foundation OTA - Office of Technical Assistance OTA - Office of Technology Assessment OTB - Off-Track Betting OTC - Over The Counter (stocks) OTF - Open Token Foundation OTH-B - Over The Horizon - Backscatter (as in radar) OTR - On The Rag OTS - Officers' Training School OUTWATS - OUTward Wide Area Telephone Service PA - Pennsylvania PA - Per Annum PA - Play Aid PA - Power of Attorney PA - Press Agent PA - Private Account PA - Public Address PA - Purchasing Agent PABX - Private Automatic Branch eXchange PAD - Packet Assembler-Disassembler (for networking) PAL - Phase Alternation Line-rate PAL - Programmable Array Logic PAM - Pulse Amplification Modulation PARC - Palo Alto Research Center, xerox PATROL - Program for Administrative Traffic Reports On Line PBM - Play By Mail game PBS - Public Broadcasting System PBX - Private Branch eXchange (mini-telephone network system) PC - Peace Corps PC - PerCent; PerCentage PC - Personal Computer PC - Player Character (see NPC) PC - Post Card PC - Post Cibum (after meals) PC - Privileged Character PC - Privy Council PC - Program Counter PC - Progressive Conservative party (Canada) PC-DOS - Personal Computer DOS PC/AT - Personal Computer/Advanced Technology PCB - PolyChlorinated Biphenyls PCB - Printed Circuit Board PCI - Panel Call Indicator PCIE - President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency PCL - Printer Command Language PCM - Plug-Compatible Mainframe PCM - Pulse Code Modulation PCPC - Personal Computers Peripheral Corporation PCS - Permanent Change of Station PCTE - Portable Common Tools Environment PCTS - Posix Conformance Test Suite PD - Per Diem PD - Police Department PD - Potential Difference PD - Public Domain PDAD - Proposed Draft ADdendum PDE - Partial Differential Equation PDES - Product Data Exchange Specifications PDF - Program Development Facility PDL - Page Description Language PDL - Program Design Language PDP - Plasma Display Panel PDP - Programmed Data Processor PDQ - Pretty Damned Quick PDT - Pacific Daylight Time PE - Phase Encoded PE - Physical Education PE - Prince Edward island PE - Printer's Error PE - Professional Engineer PE - Protestant Episcopal PEI - Prince Edward Island PEP - Productivity Enhancement Project PEPE - Pepe Est Presque Emacs PERL - Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister PERL - Practical Extraction and Report Language PEX - Phigs/phigs+ Extension to X PGA - Professional Graphics Adapter PGA - Pure Grain Alcohol PHA - Pulse Height Analyzer (or Analysis) PHIGS - Programmers Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System PHS - Public Health Service PIF - Paid In Full PIT - Principal, Interest, and Taxes PIXEL - PIcture ELement PLA - Programmable Logic Array PLC - Programmable Logic Controller PLCC - Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier PLL - Phase-Locked Loop PLM - Programming Language for Microcomputers PLO - Please Leave On PM - PayMaster PM - Police Magistrate PM - Post Meridiem PM - PostMaster PM - PostMortem PM - Preventive Maintenance PM - Prime Minister PM - Provost Marshal PM/X - Presentation Manager for X windows PMO - Prime Minister's Office PMOS - P channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (P-MOS) (see MOS) PMT - PhotoMultiplier Tube PN - Promissory Note PNP - Positive-Negative-Positive (transistor) PO - PettyOfficer PO - Post Office PO - Postal Order PO - Purchase Order POC - Port Of Call POD - Pay On Delivery POE - Port Of Embarkation POE - Port Of Entry POGO - Polar Orbiting Geophysical Observatory POM - Phase Of Moon POPS - Paperless Order Processing System POR - Price On Request POS - Point Of Sale POSI - Promoting conference for OSI POSIX - Portable Operating System for unIX POV - Point Of View POW - Prisoner Of War PP - Parcel Post PP - Past Participle PP - Primary Point (or dial Post Pay payphone) PPB - Parts Per Billion PPC - Pour Prendre Conge' (to take leave) PPCS - Person to Person, Collect, Special PPM - Parts Per Million PPN - Parameterized Post-Newtonian formalism for general relativity PPN - Project Programmer Number PPS - PostPostScriptum PPT - Pulse Pair Timing PQ - Province of Quebec PR - PayRoll PR - Public Relations PR - Puerto Rico PRC - Planning Research Corporation PROFS - PRofessional OFfice System PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory PS - PicoSecond PS - PostScript PS - PostScriptum PS - Power Steering PS - Power Supply PS - Public School PSA - Problem Statement Analyzer PSC - Polar Stratospheric Clouds PSDS - Public Switched Digital Service PSE - Programming Support Environment PSG - Platoon SerGeant PSK - Phase Shift Keying PSL - Problem Statement Language PSR - "Product Specific Realizations PST - Pacific Standard Time PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network PT - Pacific Time PT - Patrol Torpedo (as in PT boat) PT - Physical Therapy PT - Physical Training PTA - Parent-Teacher Association PTD - Parallel Transfer Disk PTO - Patent and Trademark Office PTO - Please Turn Over PTO - Power Take-Off PVO - Pioneer Venus Orbiter PW - Prisoner of War (usually POW) PWG - Permanent Working Group PX - Post eXchange (see BX) PhysRev - Physical Review Journal - Phys Rev QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation QC - Quality Control QC - Queen's Counsel QD - Quaque Die (daily) QDA - Quantity Discount Agreement QED - Quod Erat Demonstrandum (which was to be demonstrated) QEF - Quod Erat Faciendum (which was to be done) QEI - Quod Erat Inveniendum (which was to be found out) QET - Quantum Effect Transistor QIC - Quarter-Inch Cartridge QID - Quater In Die (four times a day) QLI - Query Language Interpreter QM - QuarterMaster QMC - QuarterMaster Corps QMF - Query Management Facility QMG - QuarterMaster General QMS - Quality Micro Systems QNS - Quantity Not Sufficient QWERTY - first six keys from left on top alphabetic row of standard keyboard R - Rolemaster R&B - Rhythm and Blues (commonly R and B) R&D - Research and Development (commonly R and D) RA - Regular Army RA - Research Assistant RA - Royal Academy RAAF - Royal Australian Air Force RACE - Random Access Card Equipment RACEP - Random Access and Correlation for Extended Performance RAD - Radiation Absorbed Dose RAD - Rapid Access Disk RADAR - RAdio Detection And Ranging RADM - Rear ADMiral RAF - Royal Air Force RAM - Random Access Memory RARDE - Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment RAS - Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability RASC - Residence Account Service Center RBC - Red Blood Count RBI - Runs Batted In RBOC - Regional Bell Operating Company RC - Red Cross RC - Regional Center RC - Resistor-Capacitor circuit (as in filters) RC - Roman Catholic RCA - Radio Corporation of America RCAF - Royal Canadian Air Force RCAS - Reserve Component Automation System RCC - Radio Common Carrier RCMP - Royal Canadian Mounted Police RD - Rural Delivery RDA - Remote Data Access RDBMS - Relational DataBase Management System RDF - Radio Direction Finding REA - Rail Express Agency REM - Rapid Eye Movement REO - R. E. Olds REO - Removable, Erasable, Optical REXX - Restructured EXtended eXecutor RF - Radio Frequency RFC - Request For Comments RFD - Rural Free Delivery RFI - Radio Frequency Interference RFP - Request For Proposals RFS - Remote File System RGB - Red Green Blue RGP - Raster Graphics Processor RH - Right Hand RHS - Right Hand Side RI - Rhode Island RIACS - Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (NASA) RIAS - Radio In the American Sector, berlin RIF - Reading Is Fundamental RIF - Reduction In Force RILM - Repertoire International de Literature Musicale RIP - Rest In Peace (or Requiescat In Pace : latin) RISC - Reduced Instruction Set Computer RITA - Recognition of Information Technology Achievement award RJE - Remote Job Entry RLC - Resistor Inductor Capacitor RLL - Run Length Limited RMATS - Remote Maintenance Administration and Traffic System RMS - Root Mean Square RMS - Royal Mail Ship RN - Registered Nurse RN - Royal Navy RNA - RiboNucleic Acid RNZAF - Royal New Zealand Air Force ROFF - Run-OFF ROG - Receipt Of Goods ROM - Range Of Motion ROM - Read Only Memory ROM - Rupture Of Membrane (as in birth) ROTC - Reserve Officers' Training Corps ROTS - Rotary Out Trunks Selectors ROYGBIV - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet RPC - Remote Procedure Call RPG - RePort Generator RPG - Role Playing Game RPM - Revolutions Per Minute RPN - Reverse Polish Notation RPO - Railway Post Office RPS - Revolutions Per Second RPV - Remotely Piloted Vehicle RQ - RuneQuest RR - RailRoad RR - Route Relay RR - Rural Route RRO - Rate and Route Operator RS - Recording Secretary RS - Revised Status RS - Right Side RS - Royal Society RSFSR - Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic RSN - Real Soon Now RSU - Remote Switching Unit RSV - Revised Standard Edition RSVP - Repondez S'il Vous Plait (please reply) RSWC - Right Side up With Care RT - RadioTelephone RT - RealTime RTA - Remote Trunk Arrangement RTAC - Regional Technical Assistance Center RTF - Rich Text Format RTFM - Read The F***ing Manual RTG - Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator RTR - Reel-To-Reel RTTY - Radio Teletype RU - Receive Unit RW - Right Worshipful RW - Right Worthy S - South S - Supplement S&C - Skull & Crossbones SA - Salvation Army SA - Seaman Apprentice SA - Service Assistant SA - Sex Appeal SA - Sine Anno (without date) SA - South Africa SA - South America SA - Subject to Approval SAA - South Atlantic Anomaly SAA - Systems Application Architecture SAC - Special Area Code SAC - Strategic Air Command (see TAC) SADD - Students Against Drunk Driving SAM - Surface-to-Air Missile SAMA - Step-by-step Automatic Message Accounting SAMTO - Space And Missile Test Organization SAP - Second Audio Program SAR - Synthetic Aperture Radar SARTS - Switched Access Remote Test System SASE - Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope SASI - Shugart Associates Systems Interface SAW - Surface Acoustic Wave SBA - Small Business Administration SC - Sectional Center SC - South Carolina SC - SubCommittee SCAD - Subsonic Cruise Armed Decoy SCADC - Standard Central Air Data Computer SCAME - SCreen oriented Anti-Misery Editor SCAMP - Single-Chip A-series Mainframe Processor SCAN - Switched Circuit Automatic Network SCC - Switching Control Center (or Specialized Common Carriers) SCCS - Source Code Control System SCE - Signal Conversion Equipment SCE - Structure Chart Editor SCI - SpaceCraft Incorporated SCIFI - SCIence FIction (often used pejoratively of what really isn't) SCO - Santa Cruz Operation SCOOPS - SCheme Object Oriented Programming System SCOTS - Surveilance and Control Of Transmission Systems SCSI - Small Computer Systems Interface SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus SCUD - Subsonic Cruise Unarmed Decoy SD - South Dakota SDI - Standard Disk Interconnect SDI - Strategic Defense Initiative SDLC - Synchronous Data Link Control SDO - Staff Duty Officer SE - South East SEATO - SouthEast Asia Treaty Organization SEC - Security Exchange Commission SECNAV - SECretary of the NAVy SED - Stream EDitor SEI - Software Engineering Institute (Carnegie Mellon) SEL - Software Engineering Laboratory SEM - Scanning Electron Microscope SF - San Francisco SF - Science Fiction; Speculative Fiction SF - Standard Form SF - Star Frontiers SFRPG - Science Fiction Role Playing Game SG - StarGuard SG - SubGroup SGML - Standard Generalized Markup Language SHAPE - Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe SHAR - SHell ARchiver SHCD - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective SHF - Super High Frequency (3-30GHz) SHRPG - Super Hero Role Playing Game SI - Staten Island SIAM - Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics SIG - Special Interest Group SIGCAT - Special Interest Group for Cd-rom Applications Technology SIMD - Single Instruction, Multiple Data SIMM - Single In-line Memory Module SIMM - System Integrated Memory Module SINE - SINE is not EINE SIPS - Satellite Imagery Processing System SIS - Strategic Information System SISCOM - Satellite Information System COMpany SITA - Societe Internationale Telecommunications Aeronautiques SJ - Society of Jesus SL - Salvage Loss SLA - Special Libraries Association SLA - Synchronous Line Adapter SLAN - Sine Loco, Anno, (vel) Nomine (without place, year, or name) SLAR - Side Looking Airborne Radar SLBM - Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles SLDC - Synchronous Data Link Control SLIP - Serial Line Internet Protocol SLP - Super Long Play (VHS VCR) SM - Service Mark SMA - Sergeant Major of the Army SMA - Spectrum Manufacturers Association SMC - Small Magellanic Cloud (see LMC) SMD - Storage Module Device (interface standard for disk drives) SMD - Surface Mounted Devices SMEGMA - Sophisticated Modern Editor with Gloriously Magnificent Abilities SMERSH - Abbr. of Russian phrase meaning "Death to the spies." SMILS - Sonobuoy Missile Impact Location System SMM - Solar Maximum Mission SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol SN - Super Nova SNA - Systems Network Architecture (IBM network) SNADS - SNA Distribution Services SNAFU - Situation Normal -- All Fouled Up (also, F*cked) SNAP - Shipboard Non-tactical Automated data Processing program SNCF - Societe National des Chemins de Fer (French National Railways) SNF - Server-Natural Format SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol SNOBOL - StriNg Oriented symbOLic Language SNR - Signal to Noise Ratio SO - Seller's Option SO - Significant Other SO - Space Opera SO - Strike Out SOAP - Symbolic Optimizing Assembler Program SOH - Start Of Header, ASCII control character (dec=01,control-A) SOHIO - Standard Oil of oHIO SOL - Short on Landing (or, colloquially, Shit Out of Luck) SONAR - SOund Detection And Ranging SOP - Standard Operating Procedure SOS - Silicon On Sapphire SP - Shore Patrol SP - Short Play (VHS VCR) SP - Southern Pacific SP - Stack Pointer SP - Star Patrol SPA - Software Publishers Association SPAG - Standards Promotion and Applications Group SPAR - Stock Points Adp Replacement SPARC - Scalable Processor ARChitecture SPARC - Standards, Planning, And Requirements Committee SPAWAR - naval SPAce and WARfare command SPC - Software Productivity Consortium SPCA - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SPCC - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children SPEC - Systems Performance Evaluation Cooperative SPITBOL - SPeedy ImplemenTation of snoBOL SPNI - Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel SPUR - Systech Pluraxial Unplug Repeater SQL - Structured Query Language SQUID - Superconducting QUantum Interference Device SRAM - Short Range Attack Missile SRAM - Static RAM SRB - Solid fuel Rocket Booster SRI - Stanford Research Institute SRO - Standing Room Only SSA - Social Security Administration SSB - Single Side Band SSE - South-SouthEast SSFF - Showcase Software Factory of the Future SSG - Staff SerGeant SSI - Small Scale Integration SSI - Supplemental Security Income SSR - Secondary Surveillance Radar SSR - Soviet Socialist Republic SSTV - Slow Scan TeleVision SSW - South-SouthWest ST - Short Ton STARS - Software Technology for Adaptable, Reliable Systems STD - Sacrae Theologiae Doctor (doctor of sacred theology) STD - Sexually Transmitted Disease (replaces VD) STD - State Transition Diagram STD - Subscriber Trunk Dialing (British for DDD) STILO - Scientific and Technical Intelligence Liaison Office STL - St. Louis (airport designation) STN - SuperTwisted Nematic STOL - Short TakeOff and Landing STP - Software Through Pictures STP - Standard Temperature and Pressure (see NTP) STRPG - Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game STV - Single Transferable Vote SUM - Symantec Utilities for Macintosh SUNOCO - SUN Oil COmpany SUNY - State University of New York SVID - System V Interface Definition SW - South West SW - SuperWorld SWIFT - Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communications SWS - Scientific Workstation Support T - Traveler T&T - Tunnels & Trolls TA - Teaching Assistant TAC - Tactical Air Command (see SAC) TAC - Terminal Access Controller TACCS - Tactical Army Combat service support Computer System TAE - Transportable Applications Environment TAR - Tape ARchiver TB - TuBerculosis TBA - To Be Announced TBD - To Be Determined TC - Teachers College TCA - Terminal Controlled Airspace TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol TCSEC - Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (orange book) TCT - To Challenge Tomorrow TD - TouchDown TD - Treasury Department TDCC - Transportation Data Coordinating Committee TDE - Transition Diagram Editor TDI - Trusted Database Interpretation TDY - Temporary DutY TECO - Tape Editor and COrrector TECO - Text Editor and COrrector TEFLON - polyTEtraFLuOrethyleNe TFP - Tops Filing Protocol TFS - Translucent File System TFT - The Fantasy Trip TFT - Thin Film Transistor TG - Thieves' Guild THIEF - THief Isn't Even Fine THIEF - This Here Isn't Even Fine THOR - Tandy High-intensity Optical Recording TI - Texas Instruments TIA - Thanks In Advance (special to USENET) TIA - Transient Ischemic Attack TIC - TermInfo Compiler TID - Ter In Die (three times a day) TIFF - Tag Image File Format TKO - Technical Knock Out TL - Total Loss TLA - Three Letter Acronym TLC - Tender Loving Care TLI - Transort-Level Interface TM - TradeMark TMA - Tycho Magnetic Anomaly (2001) TMAC - Treasury department's Multiuser Acquisition Contract TMIS - Telecommunications Management Information System TMO - Telephone Money Order TMP - The Morrow Project TN - Tennessee TN - Twisted Nematic TNT - TriNitro Toluene TO - Telegraph Office TO - Turn Over TODS - Transactions on Database Systems (ACM) TOMS - Transactions on Mathematical Software (ACM) TOOIS - Transactions on Office Information Systems (ACM) TOP - Technical/Office Protocol TOPLAS - Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems (ACM) TORES - Text ORiented Editing System TOW - Tube launched, Optically tracked, and Wire guided TP - Transaction Processing TPC - The Phone Company (from classic movie: _The President's Analyst_) TPI - Tracks Per Inch TPO - Traveling Post Office TPS - Technical Publishing Software TPS - TeleProcessing Services TROFF - Text RunOFF, text formatter TRUSIX - TRUSted unIX TRW - Thompson, Ramo, and Woolridge TS - Top Secret TSD - Total System Design TSP - Teleprocessing Services Program TSP - Thrift Savings Plan TSP - Time Synchronization Protocol TSP - TriSodium Phosphate TSR - TSR (Fortune 500 Company that manufactures Dungeons & Dragons) TTFN - Tah Tah, For Now TTL - Transistor Transistor Logic TTMA - Tennessee Tech Microcomputer Association TTU - Tennessee Technological University TTY - TeleTYpe TUNIS - Toronto UNIversity System TV - TeleVision TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority TW - Thieves' World TWA - Trans World Airlines TWIMC - To Whom It May Concern TWT - Traveling Wave Tube TWX - TeletypeWriter eXchange TX - Texas U - Universe UA - United Artists UAR - United Arab Republic UAR - User Action Routine UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter UBA - UniBus Adapter UBC - Universal Bibliographic Control UCB - University of California at Berkeley UCD - University of California at Davis UCI - University of California at Irvine UCLA - University of California at Los Angeles UCR - University of California at Riverside UCSB - University of California at Santa Barbara UCSC - University of California at Santa Cruz UCSD - University of California at San Diego UCSF - University of California at San Francisco UDB - Unified DataBase UDP - User Data Protocol UEC - User Environment Component UFO - Unidentified Flying Object UH - Upper Half UHF - Ultra High Frequency (300-3000MHz) UIMS - User Interface Management System UK - United Kingdom UL - Underwriters Laboratory ULANA - Unified Local-Area Network Architecture UMT - Universal Military Training UN - United Nations UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization UNICEF - United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (now United Nat. Child. Fund) UNICS - UNiplex Information Computer Services UNIX - Not an acronym at all. Was a joke on MIT's MULTICS. UNO - United Nations Organization UP - Union Pacific UPC - Universal Product Code UPI - United Press International UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply UPS - United Parcel Service UR - University of Rochester USA - Union of South Africa USA - United States Army USA - United States of America USAF - United States Air Force USAFA - United States Air Force Academy (in Colorado Springs) USC - University of Southern California USCG - United States Coast Guard USDA - United States Department of Agriculture USES - United States Employment Service USFL - United States Football League USGS - United States Geological Survey USIA - United States Information Agency USM - United States Mail USMC - United States Marine Corps USN - United States Navy USO - United Service Organizations USO - Unix Software Operation USP - United States Pharmacopeia USPS - United States Postal Service USR - User Service Routines USS - United States Ship USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics USSS - User Services and Systems Support USW - Und So Weiter UT - UTah UT - Universal Time UT - University of Tennessee UT - University of Texas UTC - Universal Coordinated Time UUCP - Unix-to-Unix CoPy UUG - Unix User Group UV - UltraViolet UW - UnderWriter UW - Univ of Wisconsin V&V - Villains & Vigilantes VA - Veterans Administration VA - Virginia VAN - Value Added Network (e.g. Tymnet, Telenet, etc) VANS - Value-Added Network Services VAR - Value Added Remarketer (reseller) VASI - Visual Approach Slope Indicator VAT - Value Added Tax VAX - Virtual Address eXtended VAXBI - VAX Bus Interconnect VCM - Voice Coil Motor VCO - Voltage Controlled Oscillator VCR - VideoCassette Recorder VCU - Virginia Commonwealth University VD - Venereal Disease (see also STD) VDFM - Virtual Disk File Manager VDI - Virtual Device Interface VDM - Vienna Development Method VDM - Virtual Device Metafile VDT - Video Display Terminal VF - Video Frequency VFO - Variable Frequency Oscillator VFW - Volunteer Fire Department VG - Very Good VG - Vicar-General VGA - Video Graphics Array VHDL - Vhsic Hardware Description Language VHF - Very High Frequency (30-300MHz) VHS - Video Home System (VCR) VHSIC - Very High Speed Integrated Circuit VI - VIsual editor VIABLE - Vertical Installation Automation BaseLinE VILE - VI Like Emacs VINE - Vine Is Not Emacs VIP - Very Important Person VISTA - Volunteers In Service To America VITA - Vme International Trade Association VJ - Video Jockey VL - Vulgar Latin VLA - Very Large Array radio telescope in Arizona or New Mexico VLF - Very Low Frequency (3-30KHz) VLIW - Very Long Instruction Word VLSI - Very Large Scale Integration VM - Virtual Memory VM/CMS - Virtual Machine/Conversational Monitor System VMM - Virtual Memory Manager VMOS - Vertical Metal Oxide Semiconductor (V-MOS) (see MOS) VMR - Vertical Market Reseller VMS - Vertical Motion Simulator VMS - Virtual Memory System VOA - Voice Of America VOIS - Voice-Operated Information System VOQ - Visiting Officer's Quarters VPI&SU - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VRC - Vertical Redundancy Character VRM - Virtual Resource Manager VSAT - Very Small Aperture Terminal, satellite dish VSX - X/open Verification Suite VTAM - Virtual Telecommunications Access Method VTOC - Volume Table Of Contents VTOL - Vertical TakeOff and Landing VTR - VideoTape Recorder VUP - Vax Unit of Performance VVSS - Vertical Volute Spring Suspension W - West W - Width WA - Washington WA - Western Australia WAC - Womens Air Corps WAN - Wide Area Network WARC - World Administrative Conference WATS - Wide Area Telephone Service WB - Water Ballast WB - WayBill WBC - White Blood Cells WC - Water Closet WC - Without Charge WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union WG - Working Group WH - WarHammer WHBL - World Home Bible League WI - Wisconsin WIS - WWMCCS Information System WITS - Washington Interagency Telecommunications System WMSCR - Weather Message Switching Center Replacement WOPR - War Operations Planned Response (from "Wargames" movie) WORM - Write Once, Read Many time WOW - Worlds of Wonder WP - Word Processing WP - Working Paper WSI - Wafer Scale Integration WSW - West-SouthWest WU - Washington University WV - West Virginia WW - World War WWI - World War I WWII - World War II WWMCCS - World-Wide Military Command and Control System WY - Wyoming WYSIWIS - What You See Is What I See WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get XCF - eXperimental Computing Facility XD - without Dividend XDR - eXternal Data Representation XINU - XINU Is Not UNIX XL - eXtra Large XMTR - transMiTteR (the X is for trans) XNS - Xerox Network Service XO - eXecutive Officer XOR - eXclusive OR (logical function) XSECT - cross SECTion XTAL - crysTAL (another version of x for crys, see XMTR) XUI - X-windows User Interface YA - Yet Another YACC - Yet Another Compiler Compiler YB - YearBook YMCA - Young Mens Christian Association YMHA - Young Mens Hebrew Association YOB - Year Of Birth YP - Yellow Pages YRS - Ysgarth Rules System YST - Yukon Standard Time YT - Yukon Territory YT - Yukon Time YTD - Year To Date YWCA - Young Womens Christian Association YWHA - Young Womens Hebrew Association Z - Zenith Z - Zero ZB - Zero Beat ZETA - Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly ZGS - Zero Gradient Synchrotron ZI - Zonal Index ZIP - Zone Improvement Plan (post office code) ZK - barrage balloon (navy symbol) ZMRI - Zinc Metals Research Institute ZPG - Zero Population Growth ZPRSN - Zurich Provisional Relative Sunspot Number ZST - Zone Standard Time ZT - Zone Time ZWEI - Zwei Was Eine Initially --leave-this-line-in-database-to-mark-end-of-master-copy-- There is a program available to search the database... but it's not with this, because you don't want it, do you? Could be an idea to take a copy and use it for some of those awkward questions in Pyroto...