Sound like a native English speaker by using ACRONYMS!

Hi.

Welcome to www.engvid.com.

I'm Adam.

In today's video, I want to help you sound more like a native English speaker.

Again, probably more North American, British, Australian, they will have their own things

to do with this, as you'll see.

But to sound like a native English speaker, you have to know a little bit about the slang

and the shortcuts that natives use.

So what we're going to look at are called acronyms.

Acronyms are letters or initials of words, and instead of saying all the different words

separately, we just squeeze them all into the first letter of each word, and that's

called the acronym.

So, for example, all of you, I think, know the company IBM.

It's a big international computer company.

International Business Machines.

So this is an acronym for a company name, but we also have acronyms for regular words.

So we're going to look at some of these.

Now, it's very important to remember that these are generally used in casual conversation.

Don't use this in formal writing.

And in certain situations, don't use them in, like, a very formal context, like a business

meeting or a presentation in a conference.

But otherwise, use them freely, sound like a native speaker.

So we're going to go over the ABCs now.

ABCs is not an acronym, it's ABC like the alphabet.

This is actually an idiom, and when you're talking about the ABCs, you're talking about

the basics.

Okay?

So these are some basic acronyms you should know.

FYI, for your information.

So this is commonly used when you want somebody to understand something very important that's

coming up, for example.

So in business, for example, somebody from head office is coming by tomorrow, and just

FYI, they're coming to see who to promote to headquarters, right?

So just FYI means just to let you know, is basically what it means.

Just for your information.

But just to let you know, they're looking to promote somebody to head office.

So keep that in mind, and be ready, and make a good impression, and maybe it will be you,

right?

So FYI.

This is a very common usage.

So just FYI.

Do well.

Be impressive.

Okay.

AKA.

Sometimes you'll see it with dots, sometimes you won't, so just recognize both.

Also known as.

So when somebody has a nickname or when you're talking about, like instead of using quotes,

you want to give something a different title, you can say "AKA", right?

So there's lots of famous people, like Sean Combs, I think, AKA P. Diddy, I think that's

who it is.

I keep forgetting who's who there, but AKA, when you have a nickname and you have the

real name, okay, then you say "also known as" to make sure that people can recognize

this person.

The President of the United States, AKA Donald Trump, also known as Donald Trump, again.

AC.

AC basically means air conditioning or air conditioner.

So it's really hot in here.

Can somebody please turn on the AC?

Now most native speakers will not say "air conditioner", too long.

Why waste words?

Why waste sounds?

Can somebody turn on the AC, right?

Two syllables, air.

So we have air conditioner.

Five syllables or AC, two syllables.

So native English speakers love to take shortcuts.

They love to use fewer syllables, and that's why there's a lot of acronyms, there are a

lot of shortened words, etc.

Okay?

So turn on the AC.

I need some AC.

ASAP.

Now, some of these words, if there are vowels in them, like for example, here I don't say...

I say "AKA", I don't say "AKA".

Sometimes we take the acronyms and we make a word out of it, ASAP.

Some people say "ASAP", some people just say "ASAP", both okay, but not "AKA".

Okay.

So, as soon as possible, so just do it quickly.

I need that report ASAP, okay, because the deadline is coming up, so tell me when you're

done ASAP.

Okay?

As soon as possible.

BFF.

Now, keep in mind, BFF, I personally never use this expression.

This is a bit of a younger person's expression, but it's becoming so common, and since the

internet and social media made it a bit famous, there were some celebrities that started using

this all the time, so now pretty much everybody uses it.

BFF, best friends forever.

So, when you're talking about a very close relationship, you're talking about this person

and his BFF, or her BFF, or whatever.

Again, up to you if you want to use it, that's fine, it just means very close relationship

between people.

Q&A.

So, at the end of the meeting, I'm going to have a Q&A, so please reserve your questions

till then.

I'm going to have a Q&A period, or we're going to have a Q&A.

Basically, questions and answers.

So, in most, again, professional situations or even academic situations, somebody's giving

a lecture, and then they set aside some time for the participants to ask questions and

get the answers to those questions.

So, instead of saying we're going to have a question period or we're going to have questions

and answers, we're going to have a Q&A at the end of the meeting, please save your questions

till then.

But again, very commonly used, you're going to hear it pretty often.

MC, master of ceremony.

So, when you have somebody who's in charge of an event, somebody who welcomes the guest

and introduces the speakers and tells people what's going on, the schedule of events, etc.,

this person is called the master of ceremony.

It could be in a business meeting or a conference, it could be in a wedding or a social event,

it could be at just a function or a promotional event, anything.

You have the one person who's basically overseeing and running the show.

So, keep in mind, you can also use this as a verb, so "to MC", right?

So somebody, some celebrity is going to MC the Oscars this year, right?

He's going to be the master of ceremony, he is going to MC the ceremony or the event.

He's going to be the MC, both okay.

MO, modus operandi.

This is Latin, basically means how a person does something, the way he does it or the

way she does it.

So, here we're talking about people and you're talking about a person's particular style

of doing something.

When we talk about criminals, like a murderer, the police are catching, looking for a murder

and there's another murder and they say, "Oh yeah, this has the same MO as the last one,

so we know it's the same person."

But you can also talk, use it in business.

Anybody know anything about the new CEO or what's his MO, right?

How does he do things is basically what it means, what's his mode of operation, way of

doing things.

TLC, tender loving care.

When you think something just needs a little bit of care and attention and it'll be good,

right?

So, I bought a new car, you know, it's not perfect, it's used, but with a little TLC,

I think it could be great.

A little tender loving care, I will give it an oil change, I will change the tires, maybe

a little paint job and it will be a beautiful car.

And you can use this about people, you can use it about things, right?

Just means just to give it a little bit of care and make it better.

Just give it a little TLC, it'll be perfect.

DIY.

Now, if you watch YouTube, I'm sure you've heard this expression before, "do it yourself".

It could be with hyphens, it could be without hyphens, it could be an adjective or a noun,

so DIY, do it yourself.

So, I have a hole in my roof in my house and my friend just recommended a DIY store where

I can get the equipment and DIY it.

So, again, I can use it as a verb.

Why don't you just DIY it?

Do it yourself.

Instead of saying, "Why don't you just do it yourself?", why don't you just DIY it?

Okay?

So, if you hear that expression, you understand what that means.

Now, B-O, body odor.

So, sometimes, I mean, again, it happens, especially in the summer, you get on the bus

and you walk in and suddenly you're hit by a smell.

Not a good smell, but it's there and it's common, and you're wondering, "What is that?"

and then you realize it's, oh, it's B-O, body odor, sweat.

Some people sweat and they give off an odor, so if you want to talk about that smell, you

talk about B-O.

"Oh, it smells like B-O in here.

It smells like body sweat", so like a gym, etc.

Facts.

Now, a lot of people confuse this word with "facts" as in, like, fax machine.

Facts.

Frequently asked questions, okay?

So, I'm at a meeting or I'm at a conference or an event, I'm giving a lecture, and I say

that...

I'm done, I say, "If anybody has questions, please check our facts page on our website,

and if you have any further questions, you can send us an email, so please check our

facts page."

Facts.

Facts, not this fax, F-A-Q-S, and again, squeezed together to make up a word.

Now, you might not hear these every day, and some of them have particular contexts, but

you will hear them.

You'll watch movies, you'll watch TV shows, you listen to the radio or YouTube, whatever,

you will hear these acronyms used like regular, everyday words.

It's very important to know what they mean, and if you can, try to use them, and you can

sound like a native speaker because you know the little tricks and the little shortcuts

of the language, okay?

If you want to make sure you understand all of these and can use them properly, please

go to www.engvid.com and take the quiz.

If you have any questions, you can ask me there in the forum, and I'll be happy to answer

your questions.

If you like this video, please subscribe to my channel, and come again for more great

tips and tools to improve your English.

See you then.

Bye.