Eco 14 - Page 357

APPENDIX N: RealSpeak SPEECH TIPS
ECO Manual
357
Abbreviations
The RealSpeak dictionary contains most common abbreviations. Some abbreviations can be
spoken in more than one way, so RealSpeak looks for the context in which they are written. The
abbreviation, "St." could be pronounced as
Saint or Street. If "St." is followed by a capital letter,
it is pronounced as
Saint. If not, it is pronounced as street. Similarly, the abbreviation "Dr."
could be pronounced as
Doctor or Drive. If it is followed by a capital letter, it's pronounced
Doctor. If not, it is pronounced, Drive.
For example: Dr. Johnson's St. is pronounced, Doctor Johnson's Street. St. John's Dr. is
pronounced
Saint John's Drive. Dr. Johnson lives on St. Peter's St. is pronounced, Doctor
Johnson lives on Saint Peter's Street
.
Acronyms and Initialisims
Acronyms are abbreviations formed by combining the first letters of a group of words. They are
pronounced as words.
For example: NATO ( nay toe), UNESCO (you ness coe)
Initialisms are abbreviations formed by combining the first letter of each part of a group of
words. Initialisms are spelled.
For example: API (ay pee eye), FBI (eff bee eye), EC (ee cee)