We live in a world of acronyms and initialisms. Acronyms being the initials of words forming a grouping of letters that is pronounced as a word. Initialisms, on the other hand, are a grouping of initials that is pronounced as individual letters. Try NASA and FBI.
How often have you heard such a grouping and were too insecure to ask what it meant?
A few days ago, a client texted me saying that the adverse party had said that they would get us a draft agreement after reviewing the “PTA”. I confessed that I had no idea what the “PTA” was. (Patent Teachers Association ? Physical Therapy Assistant?)
And so it was that I was on the phone with a fellow attorney about a matter involving TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). As I mentioned TMS, I could hear his keyboard strokes as he googled TMS.