3M - Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (Company)

AA - Alcoholics Anonymous, Automobile Association

AAAAAA - Association Against Acronym And Abbreaviation Abuse

ABC - American Broadcasting Company

AD - Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord)

AD LIB - Ad Libitum (freely)

AIDS - Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome

AM - Ante Meridiem (before noon)

ANSI - American National Standards Institute

AP - Associated Press

ASA - American Standards Association (now ANSI)

ATM - Automated Teller Machine

AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave

BAC - Blood Alcohol Content

BANANA - Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

BASF - Badische Anlin und Soda Fabrik (German Company)

BB - Brigitte Bardot

BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation

BC - Before Christ

BMW - Bavarian Motor Works

BO - Body Odor

BP - British Petroleum

BYOB - Bring Your Own Booze, Bottle, Babe, Boyfriend, etc

CBS - Columbia Broadcasting System

CC - Carbon Copy, Cubic Centimeters

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

CH - Confederation Helvetica (Switzerland)

CIA - Central Intelligence Agency

CNN - Cable News Network

COD - Cash On Delivery

COLA - Cost Of Living Adjustment

CPR - Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation

CST - Central Standard Time

DC - District of Columbia (as in Washington)

DC - Douglas Commercial (aircraft series)

DIN - Deutsche Industrie Norm (German standards)

DJ - Disc Jockey

DO - Delivery Order

EC - European Community

EMI - Electrical Music Industries

ER - Emergency Room

ESP - Especially, Estimated Selling Price, Extra Sensory Perception

EST - Eastern Standard Time

ET - ExtraTerrestrial

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival

ETC - Et Cetera (and so on)

ETD - Estimated Time of Departure

EU - European Union

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

FAX - Facsimile

FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

FC - Football Club

FIAT - Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino

FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FOB - Free On Board

GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GB - Great Britain, Gang Bang

GEC - General Electric Company

GM - General Motors, General Manager

GMBH - Gesellschaft Mit Beschraenkter Haftung (Limited Company)

GMT - Greenwich Mean Time

GP - General Practitioner (doctor), Grand Prix (motor racing)

GPO - General Post Office

GST - Goods and Services Tax

HMS - His/Her Majesty's Ship

HP - Hire Purchase

ICI - Imperial Chemical Industries (paint company)

ICU - Intensive Care Unit

ID - Identification

IOU - I Owe U (you)

IRA - Irish Republican Army

IRS - Internal Revenue Service

ISO - International Organization for Standardization

JD - Jack Daniel's (whiskey)

JVC - Victor Company of Japan (or Japan's Victor Company)

KGB - Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopaznosti

KKK - Ku Klux Klan

KLM - Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (royal Dutch airlines)

KO - Knock Out

LA - Los Angeles

LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department

LAX - Los Angeles International Airport

LC - Letter of Credit

LLB - Legum Baccalaureus (bachelor of laws)

LPG - Liquefied Petroleum Gas

LTD - Limited

MAD - Mutual Assured Destruction

MC - Master of Ceremony

MD - Medical Doctor, Managing Director

MEMO - Memorandum

MG - Morris Garage (British Car)

MGM - Metro-Goldwyn Mayer

MIA - Missing In Action

MIB - Men In Black (movie)

MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MO - Modus Operandi (Mode Of Operation)

MOD - Ministry Of Defense, Modification

MP - Member of Parliament, Military Police

MR - Mister

MSG - Monosodium Glutamate

MTV - Music TeleVision

MV - Motor Vessel

MY - Malaysia

N/A - Not Available, Not Applicable

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NB - Nota Bene (note well)

NBA - National Basketball Association

NBC - National Broadcasting Company

NCR - National Cash Register (Company)

NEC - Nippon Electronics Corporation

NG - No Good

NHK - Nippon Hoso Kyokai (principal Japanese broadcaster)

OD - Overdose, Overdrawn, Overdraft (banking)

OIC - Organization of the Islamic Conference

OPP - Other People's Property

OT - Overtime

PA - Per Annum, Personal Assistant, Public Address (Sound System)

Pokemon - POcKEt MONsters

PC - Press Conference

PLC - Public Limited Company (British)

PM - Post Meridiem (after noon), Prime Minister

PMS - Pre-Menstrual Syndrome

PO - Purchase Order, Post Office

PR - Public Relations

PRO - Public Relations Officer

PS - Post Scriptum

PST - Pacific Standard Time

RCA - Radio Corporation of America

RE - Regarding

RIP - Rest In Peace

ROC - Republic Of China

RRP - Recommended Retail Price

RSVP - Repondez S'il Vous Plait (French: please reply)

SIC - Spelling InCorrect

SOB - Son Of a Bitch

SOS - Save Our Souls (international standard distress call)

STD - Sexually Transmitted Disease

SWAT - Special Weapons And Tactics (police team)

SWF - Single White Female

TB - TuBerculosis

TBA - To be announced

TGV - Train a Grande Vitesse

TM - TradeMark

TNT - TriNitroToluene

TOEFL - Test Of English as a Foreign Language

UFO - Unidentified Flying Object

UNCLE - United Network Command for Law Enforcement

UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UK - United Kingdom

UPS - United Parcel Service

USS - United States Ship

USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (now Russia)

UTC - Universal Time Coordinated

VAT - Value Added Tax

VD - Venereal Disease

VIP - Very Important Person

VO - Voice Over (narrate)

VOA - Voice Of America

VSOP - Very Superior Old Pale (brandy)

VW - Volkswagen

W/O - Without

WC - Water Closet

WHO - World Health Organization

WWF - World Wildlife Federation

XO - Extra Old (brandy)

XXL - X'tra X'tra Large

YMCA - Young Men's Christian Association

ZIP - Zone Improvement Plan (US postal code)