Answer: There is a difference between acronyms and abbreviations. An acronym Is usually formed by taking the first initials of a phrase or compounded- Word and using those initials to form a word that stands for something. Thus NATO, which we pronounce NATOH, is an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and LASER (which we pronounce "lazer"), Is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. FBI, then, is not really an acronym for the Federal Bureau of Investigation; it is an abbreviation. AIDS is an acronym; HIV is an Abbreviation. URL is an abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator (World Wide Web address), but many people pronounce it as "Earl," Making it a true acronym and others insist on pronouncing it as three Separate letters, "U * R * L," thus making it an abbreviation.