Common Acronyms and Abbreviations Used by Native Speakers
Today we learn about acronyms, such as FYI, SEX and even WTF?! BTW, these are the most common acronyms used by native speakers! Hope you enjoy this episode! :)
Transcript
Hola muchachos, you are listening to English Made Simple, Episode #25!
Hola everyone, Welcome. My name is Milena. Thank you for joining me. How are you guys? How was your weekend going? Did you do anything fun on the weekend? Like for example, you could have listened to this show? You know, some people think that it is fun, my family think it’s fun! It’s better than going out drinking, doing crazy things and then regretting it later!Haha
Anyway, enough of this gibberish Milena. Welcome guys for the 25th time! Woohoo!
For the new people joining us, welcome amigos, make yourself comfortable (PONGANSE COMODOS) and enjoy the show (DISFRUTEN EL SHOW). English Made Simple will make your life easier in an English Speaking Country. Yes I want to give you some practical tips, what to do in real-life situations, like going for interviews, talking with native speakers, making new friends, passing English exams, going to University, everyday things… things that that people go through in an English speaking country. K, moving overseas…
You know, I wish someone prepared me for the real life situations when I moving to New Zealand 20 years ago. I had to learn everything by myself. And I know how frustrating it can be, it can be really frustrating and disheartening as well.
So, what are we going to talk about today Milena? SOBRE QUE VAS A HABLAR HOY MILENA? That’s a very good question. Don’t know. haha My husband suggested I should speak Spanish more often on my podcasts, so I said to him Callate! Cierra tu boca y SIGUE LIMPIANDO LOS PLATOS! Callate! Haha for the rest of you who don’t speak Spanish, that just means, shut up and keep cleaning the dishes! Now he will keep quiet and I can continue recording this episode in peace.
In today’s episode, we will talk about acronyms (ACRÓNIMOS O ABREVIACIONES) and how they can help you prepare for job interviews or write essays (ENSAYOS)!
Native speakers live by acronyms. They love acronyms.
When we use acronyms we write them in capitals. Some people put a full stop after each letter, after each capital letter. But I think this is now redundant, people became too lazy and you just put the capital letters. I will also give you examples of the most popular acronyms, some acronyms that we use at work, and I will also give you an example of some acronyms that we use with friends, and also, I’ll give you an example of an acronym that you can use as a formula to write an essay or to answer job interview questions.
Let’s start!
The most popular acronyms that you will need to use when you are in an office, writing emails is
(FYI) For Your Information. That’s what FYI stands for. Other popular acronyms you could be using is EOM (End of Message (FIN DEL MENSAJE)), FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions (PREGUNTAS FRECUENTES)). These FAQ’s you will see on websites or similar, or in some documents. There is others, for example…
TBC – To be Continued or To Be Confirmed (CONTINUARÁ O POR CONFIRMAR). So these are the ones I used in the past too.
If you are sending an email to your friend or if you are sending a message to your friends, you can say BTW By The Way. I am sure you know you’ve heard of this one before, BTW, by the way.
If your friend gives you too much information, about something disgusting, asqueroso haha Then you can tell your friend TMI. Too Much Information. You know, in a sarcastic kind of way.
My favourite acronym is KIS as in Keep It Simple (HAZLO O MANTENLO SIMPLE)) I like to add an extra S at the end which then becomes KISS, like it’s a word “kiss” un beso, if you have 2 SS’s at the end means Un Beso. Keep It Simple, Stupid.haha that’s what it stands for.
Make sure you use all CAPITALS, (LETRAS MAYUSCULAS) use all CAPITALS when you write in acronyms.
The acronym KISS – Means, Keep it Simple Stupid. This basically means, don’t overcomplicate things keep it simple. And that’s my tip for learning English!! Keep it Simple. Don’t overcomplicate and overwhelm yourself.
Recently I noticed, that the new generation, you know in their 20’s, ok that’s not kids anymore, but the younger generation,, they like to abbreviate everything! And there are some new acronyms that are popping up. For example, FOMO. FOMO Stands for Fear of Missing Out (NO QUIERO PERDéRMELO) no te lo pierdas), that’s what Fear of Missing out Means and nowadays it became a part of a regular vocabulary.
And there is another one, YOLO. I heard this in a movie the other day, I forgot which movie it was.
YOLO (You only live once (SOLO SE VIVE UNA VEZ)). YOLO. And you write all capitals.
Younger generation, that’s how they talk.
If you are messaging your friends, if you are sending an SMS, a text message, if you are sending a text message to your friends, sometimes you can write LOL, which stands for Laugh Out Loud (MUCHAS RISAS), Laugh Out Loud. That’s what it stands for, when you write a funny silly joke to your friend, you can say LOL. And that stands for Laugh Out Loud.
Another interesting acronym, is WTH – what the hell? (QUE DIABLOS)? I use this one a lot when I send messages to my friends. I say WTH, qué diablos? what happened? Haha
And, WTF …uhm… I am not going to tell you, it’s quite rude. Basically it stands for (QUE HUEVADA (QUE HUEá))? Whatta? Right! I am not going to tell you!
Let’s get serious now, shall we?
We had a little bit of fun, let’s get serious!
When it comes to answering job interview questions, guys, or when you have to write essays for English exams, for example, what you need to keep in mind is one particular acronym. It’s quite simple, it’s very catchy (ES BASTANTE SIMPLE, BASTANTE PEGAJOSO), it’s one that you can use as a formula for writing essay. It is SEX. (S.E.X.). A ha! Now you are listening! What did you say Milena? Qué dijiste, Milena? Whoa, am I listening to the right show? Yes, yes you are! That’s what you are thinking about, but I am here to teach you English.
SEX as an acronym! It’s actually a very popular acronym.
Well I am glad I got your attention now, let us continue.
The SEX acronym will help you answer the majority of behavioural interview questions. It will help you because it is so easy to remember.
Yup, it’s so easy to remember! You can use SEX, S.E.X. as a formula, as I mentioned before, as a formula to write essay or to answer questions. And I will give you an example of how you can use this!
In my previous episode, #24 – I mentioned behavioural questions during the job interviews (PREGUNTAS DE COMPORTAMIENTO). The questions about how you behave in certain work situations. Uh, you know, how do you deal with conflicts? How do you behave in a team? Are you a team player? And these are behavioural questions and we are going to use this acronym tohelp you answer behavioural questions.
The acronym stands for:
S – Statement (ORACIÓN)
E – Examples
X – eXplanation
Think of it as a formula to write structured essays and to answer behavioural questions.
Very simple, right? Are you following me so far? If you find this really helpful guys, if you find this episode helpful, please share it with your friends. Sharing is caring!
Let’s continue!
Here is an example:
Statement: I saved my previous employer $2 million.
Example: I worked on the project XYZ, with stakeholders they are from different departments and we saved the employer $2 million dollars together.
eXplanation: The X of the acronym is eXplanation. And it should answer the HOW? How we saved the company $2million dollars.
Well, I negotiated cost savings with a supplier during the life of the project.
It’s a very simple example.
Another non-business example that you can use, let’s say when you write essays for example.
A simple sentence:
Sentence: Writing essays is not easy for many students.
Full stop, that’s my statement!
Example: Though students might have good research skills and writing skills, they still find it difficult to write essays.
Explanation: This is because the students do not have an example essay to guide them in their writing activity.
That’s my explanation. Does that help guys?
Well this brings us to the end of the episode.
So remember everyone… just KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
When it comes to English, try to keep it simple. Try not to overwhelm yourself. You don’t have to know all the tenses. Keep it Simple.
All transcriptions are available on my website, www.www.englishmadesimple.net, if you have any questions on any of the topics we covered in this show, please let me know in the Facebook Group English Made Simple or on my website. This podcast is for YOU and I am here to help you learn! So let’s do this!
Thank you for joining me, until next time! Hasta la Proxima! Ciao guys!