Genre: Vocabulary Game
Title: Play with Acronyms.
Presenter: Mr. Oku
Description:
Our surrounding is flooded with numerous acronyms, namely, a chain of alphabetic characters as the abbreviation of names and long words such as NHK-ESS. Indeed, they provide conventional tools for easy writing and communication among average people. On the other hand, for some people who do not know the original meaning, acronyms are nothing but strange signs and jargons, sounding nonsense and discriminative.
If so, instead of keeping away from them, let’s play on acronyms with your wits and tickling jokes and give them different meanings.
As a consequence of this game, I hope that we will become more careful and thoughtful when we use kind of cryptographic words as acronyms, slang and IT terms among the public.
Processes in the Group Session (four people each):
1) Lists of known acronyms are shown below with original meanings. They are classified into four categories. You may add some new ones to the list if you want (3 min only in the beginning). Now, you start from any category.
2) In each category, everyone must choose a favorite acronym and work individually to give a new meaning on it with wits and jokes. If necessary, prepositions, conjunctions and the least number of noun or verb can be used (8 min).
3) After 8 min, show your work-out pieces to the group, discuss and correct to refine them (7 min).
4) Proceed to the second category and so on (15 min x 4 categories = 60 min).
5) After 60 min, select 3 unique answers of the group out of four categories (5 min).
Process in the General Class Session:
6) Presentation of the group’s best answers with explanation, if necessary (3 min x 5 groups = 15 min).
Acronyms and Original Names examples of jokes
Examples:
IAL Icelandic AirLine I am always late (known)
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization No action talk only (known)
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Group 1. CompanyNames
JAL Japan AirLine; ANA All Nippon Airways; JAS Japan Air System;
UA United Airline; NW Northwest Airline; AA American Airline;
TWA Trans World Airline; LH Lufthanza; BA British Airways;
EMS Express Mail Service;
SONY; TBS; TOYOTA; VW; GE; GM; JR; JT; JRA;
NTT; KDDI; MAC; NOVA (not nova);
Group 2. Government Organizations
PKO Peace-Keeping Operation; ISAF International Security Allied Force;
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;
WTO World Trade Organization; ISO International Organization for Standardization;
FBI Federal Bureau of Inspection; CIA Central Intelligence Agency;
NSF National Science Foundation; NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
Group 3. Social System, Institution, Science and Technology
JIS Japanese Industrial Standards; NPO Non-Profit Organization;
NGO Non-Governmental Organization; NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai;
ESS English Speaking Society; GPS Global Positioning System;
LSI Large-Scale Integrated circuit; NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance;
TOPIX Tokyo Stock Price Index; UCLA; SUNY; MIT; IIT; ICU; TITECH, KIT, RITZ, etc.
Group 4. Health, Life, Environment
SARS Serious Aspiration Retardant Symptom
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
LSD lysergic acid diethylamide; EPA eicosa-pentaenoic acid;
DHA docosa-hexaenoic acid; NIH National Institutes of Health;
WHO World health Organization; MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
PET Positive Electron Tomography; LDK Living Dining-Kitchen;
DV Domestic Violence;
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
UNEP United Nations Environment Program; EPA Environmental Protection Agency
WMO World Meteorological Organization; GSC Green Sustainable Chemistry;
LCA Life Cycle Assessment
Group’s Selected Answers:
1)
2)
3)
4)