An acronym is only an acronym if you say it like a word

What's the difference between the words NASA and CEO? Although each letter represents a word in both cases, one is an acronym and the other is an initialism.

Almost every English-speaking person will have confused this at some point. It’s easy to be confused, especially considering how often the proper name for a non-pronounceable acronym, initialism, is so underused. 

You may still be a bit confused about when to use each word. As you should already know, an abbreviation is when a word is shortened and put together. An initialism is when this is done by taking the first letter of each word and spelling them out. An acronym is when the initialism can be pronounced as a word.

Now you know what the correct terms are. Although, if you don’t want to have to explain yourself constantly, it’s probably better to just say acronym.

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