By Ken Michaels, Staff Writer This article is about a few “odds and ends” that may contribute to more precise oral and written communication.More on Abbreviations A couple of questions have come my way since we published the article entitled “It’s Eff En Ell” (http://ncifrederick.cancer.gov/about/theposter/content/its-eff-en-ell). The first has to do with making abbreviations plural. The rule is to express the abbreviation in all capitals followed by a lowercase s—with no spaces and no apostrophe: “I saw three UFOs yesterday.” Although it’s an all-too-common mistake to use an apostrophe to create a plural form, it is a mistake nevertheless. An apostrophe is used to indicate...

By Ken Michaels, Staff Writer The other day, in a discussion about implementing new branding standards for the name change to Frederick National Laboratory, Frank Blanchard, our public affairs director, related to me that he had recently been asked, “So how exactly do I pronounce FNL?” His answer was, “Eff, en, ell.” Why? Because FNL is not an acronym.FNL Is NOT an Acronym? Right. Contrary to popular misconception, a collection of letters that stands for something is not necessarily an acronym. And this is one such case: FNL is an initialism (also sometimes called alphabetism), not an acronym. So what’s the difference? While the term “acronym” is often used to describe any...