My initial idea for this week’s column was to talk a bit more about abbreviations, which seemed like a fine idea at first. But then things got tricky. I mean, just exactly what is an abbreviation anyway? Is it an initialism, made up of letters that are pronounced individually (such as IBM)? Or is it an acronym, which is a group of initials that are pronounced as a word (like Nabisco)? And is there a real difference between the two? (And now I’m also wondering – do I ask too many questions?)

Since the jury’s still out on this particular matter, I’ve decided to stay stuck in my stubborn ways – for this week anyway – and declare that there is a real difference between the two. Which means that we’ll take a look at both initialisms and acronyms this week.

First the acronyms. A good example is “Fiat.” The Italian automaker’s familiar name stands for the cumbersome “Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino,” so it’s easy to see why they decided to go with Fiat.

“FedEx” is of course shorthand for Federal Express, while food giant “Nabisco” is an easy way of saying National Biscuit Company. And if the spokesperson for your insurance company is a certain type of lizard, then you probably already knew that Geico stands for Government Employees Insurance Company.

Qantas is the acronym for Queensland and Northern Territories Air Service. Even the federal government with its usually baffling word salad of abbreviations saw fit to give us a break with NASA instead of having to go with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The government changed the name of NACA (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) to NASA in 1958.

Other companies take their names of their founders. These are called eponymous names and include the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch (which is frequently shortened to “A&F”), Adidas (which is a shortening of the name of its founder, Adolf “Adi” Dassler) and of course our own L.L. Bean. As you can see, these eponymous names can also include the use of initials and acronyms.

OK, now let’s take a look at some initialisms, which include many big companies known to most of us by only their initials. Those companies are often referred to as monogram brands, and include businesses such as GE (General Electric), IBM (International Business Machines), BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavarian Motor Works), VW (Volkswagen) and LG (Lucky-Goldstar).

There are many other common abbreviations that, without sufficient context, could easily be confused with one another. For instance, prior to 2002 it was tricky to distinguish the World Wrestling Federation from the World Wildlife Fund until a court case settled the matter and the wrestlers decided to “get the F out” and go with WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) instead.

Another possibly confusing initialism is SEC, which can stand for either the Southeast Conference for college sports or for the government’s Securities and Exchange Commission.

And the list goes on: SAM might mean Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine or it could stand for “surface to air missile.” You might need MFA (multi-factor authentication) to access your master of fine arts transcript.

And if you’re an unlucky member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association), you might end up needing a member of the other AMA, the American Medical Association.

One local pair of abbreviations that you would never want to get mixed up are CMCC (Central Maine Community College) and CMMC (Central Maine Medical Center). One is where you go to get smarter, the other is where you go if something smarts.

Jim Witherell of Lewiston is a writer and lover of words whose work includes “L.L. Bean: The Man and His Company” and “Ed Muskie: Made in Maine.” He can be reached at jlwitherell19@gmail.com.

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