Difference Between Mnemonic, Acronym, Acrostic, Abbreviation, and Initial with Examples List

Life Skills > Intrapersonal Intelligence > Mnemonic Devices
Effective information management is one of the vital elements of human relationship skills. Sometimes, it is inevitable that you have to rely on your memory either to remember the names of others, or to recall the likes and dislikes of others in order persuade or empathize others. Mnemonics, acronyms, acrostics, abbreviations and initials are some of the common creative memory aids to remember any information. However, you should know the difference between these terms in order to use them effectively.

Difference Acronym, Acrostic,Mnemonic, Abbreviation, Initial

1. Acronym

1.1 Acronym Definition/Meaning

A word formed from the first letters of other words.

1.2 Acronym Examples List

Sales:- KISS-Keep It Short and Sweet.
AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
AIDS: Acquired Immuno Defiency Syndrome.
SARS – (a) Severe acute respiratory syndrome.

2. Acrostic 

2.1 Definition/Meaning

A poem or puzzle in which certain letters in each line form a word or words
Now if you want to convert the above acronym into an acrostic word or words.

2.2 Acrostic Examples List

1. AIDS: 
All of us are prone to
Immuno virus, So
Diagonalize it, and be
Safe.
2. KISS: Keep customers' need in mind.
Involve them into the features and benefits of your product
Seek whether they are convinced
Sell
3. SARS:
Stop talking and
Allow me talk about
Respiratory syndrome called
SARS

3. Abbreviation

3.1 Definition/Meaning

Short form of a word or phrase

3.2 Abbreviation Examples List

• Phd (doctorate in Philosophy)
• Msc (Master of Science)
• Adv (Adv)

4. Initial

4.1 Definition/Meaning

The first letter of a name or Word.

4.2 Initials Examples List

• ABC-Always Be Closing
• ALF-Always Listen First
• ABC-Always Be Closing
• WIIFM-What's In It For Me
• US-United States
• UK-United Kingdom

5. Mnemonic-What is a Mnemonic

Mnemonic pronounced as nemonic, synonyms include brain mnemonic, cue or hint. It is not only used to remember something but also code passwords. Infact, you can get mnemonic password generators online.

5.1 Definition/Meaning

A pattern or words or letters Used to aid the Memory. Anything that is used to aid the memory is a mnemonic. It could be Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic or Touch.

5.2 Popular Common, sometimes Funny, Mnemonics Examples List

• 3Ps-Plan, Prepare, Present: Please, Question the President's Objections Courageously - A memory aid to remember the sales process- Prospecting, Qualifying, Presenting, Objection handling and Closing the sale.
• SCAMPER Stands for Substitute, Combine, Alter, Modify, Put to another Use, Eliminate, Reuse or Reverse. Many manufacturing industries use SCAMPER technique to apply creativity at work. This simple memory trick has the ability to revolutionize a manufacturing product. SCAMPER can show a major positive impact on the products? cost, appeal, quality, and style. Designing engineers find this mnemonic device as one of the most helpful designing tools for almost all products that are consumed in the market.
• AIDA Stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action: AIDA, which is the commonly used mnemonic in the advertising industry, reminds the advertisers to organize their advertisements to keep the viewers attention and to take desirable action on the displayed product. In fact, AIDA is one of the oldest mnemonics that has been used even today to produce an interesting and engaging advertisement.
• SMART Stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bond. Almost every manager would be familiar with this popular mnemonic. It is quite often used in management world to set effective and achievable goals. SMART mnemonic occurred in an issue of Management Review by George T.Doran in 1981. In fact, it was, later, extended to SMARTER where E stands for Evaluate and R stand for Relevant.

7. Types of Mnemonic Devices- Mnemonic Classification

Mnemonic devices can broadly divided into 

1. Visual Mnemonic including color mnemonic
2. Sound Mnemonic
3. Spatial Mnemonic
4. Words, Phrases and Sentences (Mnemonic Words)

6. Differences

6.1 Acronym Vs Acrostic 

Similarity between an acronym and an acrostic is both can stand itself as a Word. The difference between acronym and acrostic is that, an acronym will not form a poem, sentence or puzzle whereas, an acrostic will form a poem, sentence, or puzzle.

6.2 Abbreviation Vs Initial (Initialism)

An abbreviation cannot stand as a word, unlike an acronym as in KISS. So, Phd, should be pronounced as P, alone, h, alone and d, alone. However, on the other hand, Initial will always indicate the first letter of the word but an abbreviation need not follow this rule, Phd, has been taken from beginning, middle or from the end of the word or letter.

6.3 Acronym Vs Mnemonic

Acronym is always auditory, whereas a mnemonic can be visual, auditory, kinesthetic or touch that are used to aid the memory. And a mnemonic, unlike acronym, doesn't follow any strict rule, for example, VIBGYOR, It is Gr8 2 b Here, (it is great to be here) etc.

8. So What?

Managing information is the one of the keys of influencing skills and mnemonics and acronyms are some of the tools to manage information, code them and store them in the human memory. All our life we deal with two entities; manpower and matter. In order to manage these two entities, mnemonics yet another tool that can help.