fyi?

[potterfan3]

What does FYI stand for i've heard it in alot of american programmes

[andy hughes]

It's an acronym - 'For Your Information'.

[Tweed]

It is as Andy says, though it's an abbreviation, not an acronym

[tomd]

It's an Acronym: An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a series of words.

[Tweed]

It's an acronym only if it spells out another word, like laser for example.

[OBonio]

An abbrev. is a shortening of a word (see what I done there?).  Acronyms are as Andy says.  Since when have RAM and ROM been words?

[marmaduke]

They are acronyms, since they can be pronounced as words - they don't have to be 'real' words. 'Laser' isn't a real word at all, it's an acronym

[Tweed]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=acronym%20

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=abbreviation

[steevee]

I think that an abbreviation that actually spells a word, such as NASA is an acronym, whereas one that doesn't is an INITIALISM.

[mr. piper]

i think that you lot have used far too many big words to answer this question and have completely missed the essence of the item, if potterfan can't work out "FYI" why then bombard him with words like abbreviation, acronym etc. you might as well have thrown in "quark" or "antimatter" or other things stephen hawkins shouts in his sleep (yes i know he can't shout but you can see where i am going with this). so think on pedants(you can argue if that is the plural of pedantic another time) and give this poor chap a break , he has suffered enough already!

[Tweed]

I sort of agree Mr. Piper - I didn't want to start a debate about the definition of acronym. Though entering into the spirit of the site i.e. to provide information, I chose to point it out.