Most of us have become all too familiar with the Yuppie (Young UPwardly mobile Professional), coined in the early 1980s. Since then other acronymic age and social markers have surfaced, of which these are an amusing selection:
| MA |
Master of Arts; Military Academy; mental age |
| MA&F |
former Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing (qv MAFF) |
| ma’am |
madam; madame |
| MAC |
multiplexed analogue component |
| Mac |
Macintosh computer |
| mac |
macintosh (style of raincoat); also mackintosh |
| Mach |
Mach number (ratio between speed and speed of sound; Mach 1 is the speed of sound) |
| mach |
machinery |
| MAD |
mutual assured destruction; mean absolute deviation |
| MADD |
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (US) |
| MAFF |
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
| mag |
magazine; magnetic; magnitude |
| Magd |
Magdalen College, Oxford |
| maitre d’ |
maitre d’hotel |
| Maj Gen |
Major General |
| MAN |
Maschinen Augsburg-Nurnberg AG (German firm) |
| M&B693 |
May and Baker 693, sulphapyridine, a pioneer sulpha drug |
| Man Dir |
managing director (also man dir, MD) |
| m&b |
mild and bitter (ale) |
| M&Ms |
button-size chocolate-coated sweets |
| M&S |
Marks and Spencer, department store chain |
| Man Ed |
managing editor (also man ed) |
| MANWEB |
Former Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board |
| Mar |
March |
| mar |
married; marine; maritime |
| Marat/Sade |
Short for The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, a play by Peter Weiss |
| marg |
margarine (also marge) |
| Marq |
Marquis |
| mart |
market |
| MARV |
manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle |
| masc |
masculine (also mas) |
| MASH |
Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (US); also the TV series |
| mat |
matrix; matte; matinee; maternity; mature |
| maths |
mathematics (math in the US) |
| Matric |
Matriculation (higher education entry examination) |
| MAW |
model, actress, whatever |
| max |
maximum |
| MAYDAY |
m’aidez = help me (distress call) |
| MB |
Bachelor of Medicine; medical board; marketing board; maternity benefit; methyl bromide (fire retardant) |
| mb |
millibar |
| MBA |
Master of Business Administration (also “Mind my Bloody Arse” aimed at over-cautious young MBAs unable to make decisions) |
| MBE |
Member of the Order of the British Empire |
| mbr |
member |
| MC |
Military Cross; master of ceremonies; Member of Congress (US) |
| mc |
motorcycle (also m/c); megacycle |
| MCB |
miniature circuit breaker |
| MCh |
Master of Surgery |
| MCC |
Marylebone Cricket Club; Melbourne Cricket Club |
| MCP |
male chauvinist pig |
| MCPS |
Mechanical Copyright Protection Society; Member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons |
| MCU |
medium close-up (cinemaphotography) |
| MD |
Doctor of Medicine; managing director; musical director; mentally deficient |
| MDA |
Muscular Dystrophy Association |
| Mddx |
Middlesex |
| MDF |
medium-density fibreboard |
| MDR, mdr |
minimum daily requirement |
| MDS |
Master of Dental Surgery |
| mdse |
merchandise |
| ME |
marme/mechanical/mining engineer; Middle East; myalgic encephalomyelitis |
| mech |
mechanical |
| MEd |
Master of Education |
| Med |
Mediterranean |
| med |
medical; medicine; medium; median; medieval |
| MEF |
Mediterranean Expeditionary Force |
| MEK |
methyl-ethyl-ketone (industrial solvent) |
| Melb |
Melbourne |
| mem |
member; memorial; memorandum |
| Mencap |
Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults |
| MEP |
Member of the European Parliament |
| Mer |
Merionethshire |
| mer |
meridian |
| Merc |
Mercedes (car) |
| MERLIN |
Medium Energy Reactor, Light water Industrial Neutron source |
| Messrs |
Messieurs = gentlemen |
| Met |
Metropolitan Opera House, New York; meteorological office |
| met |
metropolitan; meteorological |
| metall |
metallurgy; metallurgical |
| Meth |
Methodist |
| meths |
methylated spirit (also meth, metho) |
| Metro |
Chemin de fer metropolitan (Paris underground) |
| MeV |
one million electron volts |
| Mex |
Mexico; Mexican; Tex-Mex = Texan-Mexican food |
| MEZ |
Mitteleuropaische Zeit = Central European Time |
| MF |
medium frequency |
| MFB |
Metropolitan Fire Brigade |
| MFD |
minimum fatal dose |
| mfd |
manufactured |
| mfg |
manufacturing |
| mfr |
manufacturer; manufacture |
| Mg |
magnesium |
| MG |
Morris Garage (sports cars) |
| mg |
milligram; morning |
| MGB |
Ministerstvo gosudarstvennoye bezopasnosti = former Soviet Ministry of State Security (renamed KGB in 1954) |
| MGM |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Hollywood film studio) |
| MGN |
Mirror Group Newspapers |
| mgr |
manager |
| mgt |
management |
| MHA |
Member of the House of Assembly (Australia, Canada); Methodist Homes for the Aged |
| MHF |
medium high frequency |
| MHR |
Member of the House of Representatives (Australia, US) |
| MHW |
mean high water |
| MHWNT |
mean high water, neap tide |
| MHWST |
mean high water, spring tide |
| MHz |
megahertz |
| MIA |
missing in action |
| MIAA |
Member Architect of the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors |
| MIBE |
Member of the Institution of British Engineers |
| Mich |
Michaelmas; Michigan |
| MICR |
magnetic ink character recognition |
| MIDAS |
missile defence alarm system |
| Middx |
Middlesex (also Mddx) |
| MIF |
milk in first (before pouring tea, coinsidered non-U) |
| MI5 |
Section 5, Military Intelligence (British Government counter-intelligence agency) |
| MiG, MIG |
Initials of Mikoyan and Gurevich, designers of Russian fighter aircraft of which the MiG-15 fighter, the supersonic MiG-19 and the MiG-21 fighter are the most notable |
| MIG |
metal inert gas welding technique |
| mike |
microphone |
| Mil |
Military |
| mill |
millionen = German million |
| MIMechE |
Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers |
| MIMinE |
Member of the Institute of Mining Engineers |
| MIMS |
monthly index of medical specialties |
| MIMT |
Member of the Institute of the Motor Trade |
| MIMunE |
Member of the Institution of Municipal Engineers |
| Min |
Minister; Ministry |
| min |
minimum; mineralogy; minute; minor |
| MInstT |
Member of the Institute of Technology |
| MIP |
maximum investment plan; monthly investment plan |
| MIPS |
million instructions per second (computers) |
| Miras |
mortgage interest relief at source |
| MIRTE |
Member of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers |
| MIRV |
multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle |
| misc |
miscellaneous |
| MI6 |
Military Intelligence, Section 6 (British Government intelligence and espionage agency) |
| Miss |
Mistress (originally, in 17th cent) – prefix for a girl or an unmarried woman |
| MIT |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| MITI |
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Japan) |
| MJQ |
Modern Jazz Quartet |
| Mk, mk |
mark (currency); mark (type of car) |
| mkt |
market; mktg = marketing |
| ml |
mililitre; mile |
| MLA |
Member of the Legislative Assembly; Modern Language Association of America |
| MLC |
Member of the Legislative Council (Australia, India) |
| MLD |
minimum lethal dose |
| Mlle |
Mademoiselle = Miss (in France) |
| MLR |
minimum lending rate |
| MLS, mls |
medium long shot (cinematography) |
| MLWNT |
mean low water, neap tide |
| MLWST |
mean low water, spring tide |
| MM |
Messieurs = French equivalent of Messrs = plural of Mr; Military Medal; Mercantile Marine |
| mm |
millimetre; mm2 = square millimetre; mm3 = cubic millimetre |
| MMDS |
multipoint microwave distribution system (also MDS) |
| Mme, Mmes |
Madame = Mrs; Mesdames = Ladies (in France) |
| MMQ |
minimum manufacturing quantity |
| MMR |
measles/mumps/rubella (combination childrens’ vaccine) |
| MMus |
Master of Music |
| MN |
Merchant Navy |
| mng |
managing; Mng Dir = managing director |
| mngr |
manager (also mgr); mngmt = management |
| M-number |
Number of nebulae and star clusters in Messier catalogue |
| MO |
Medical Officer; Meteorological Office; mail order; money order |
The prefix M followed by a numeral from 0 to 5 denotes the British Treasury’s estimates of money supply – the amount of cash in circulation in actual notes and coins in your pockets and purses. The system works like this:
| Mor |
Morocco |
| mor |
morocco (bookbinding) |
| MORI |
Market and Opinion Research International (public poll) |
| MOS |
metal oxide semiconductor; Mail on Sunday |
| mos |
months |
| MOT |
motor vehicle test certificate (Ministry of Transport) |
| Mounty |
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (also Motilities) |
| MOUSE |
Miniature Orbital Unmanned Satellite, Earth |
| MP |
Member of Parliament; Military Police; Mercator’s projection (cartography); Mounted Police |
| mp |
melting point |
| MPA |
Music Publishers’ Association |
| mpc |
maximum permissible concentration |
| MPG |
main professional grade (teachers’ salary scale) |
| mpg |
miles per gallon |
| mph |
miles per hour |
| MPLA-PT |
Movimento de Libertacao de Angola – Partido de Trabalho = Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola Workers’ Party |
| MPO |
military post office |
| MPS |
Member of the Pharmaceutical/Philological/ Physical Society |
| MPTA |
Municipal Passenger Transport Association |
| MR |
map reference; Master of the Rolls; motivational research |
| Mr |
Mister; Master |
| MRA |
Moral Rearmament |
| MRBM |
medium range ballistic missile |
| MRC |
Medical Research Council |
| MRE |
meals ready to eat; meals rejected by Ethiopians (Br Army descr.) |
| MRH |
Member of the Royal Household |
| MRI |
magnetic resonance imaging |
| MRIA |
Member of the Royal Irish Academy |
| MRP |
manufacturer’s recommended price |
| Mrs |
Mistress (17th cent) prefix for a married woman |
| MRSC |
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry |
| MRT |
mass rapid transport |
| MS |
multiple sclerosis; medium shot (cinematography); Microsoft (computer software company); Master of Surgery; memoriae sacrum = sacred to the memory of (on gravestones) |
| Ms |
Optional prefix for a woman, whether married or not |
| ms |
manuscript (also mss) |
| m/s |
metres per second |
| MSc |
Master of Science |
| MS(Dent) |
Master of Surgery (Dental Surgery) |
| MS-DOS |
Microsoft Disk Operating System (computers) |
| MSF |
Manufacturing, Science, Finance (trade union) |
| MSG |
monosodium glutamate (food flavour enhancer) |
| Msgr |
Monsignor |
| MSI |
medium scale integration |
| MSL |
mean sea level |
| MST |
Mountain Standard Time (N America) |
| mt |
mount; mountain |
| MTB |
motor torpedo boat |
| MTBE |
methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (antiknock lead-free petrol additive) |
| MTech |
Master of Technology |
| mtg |
mortgage; meeting |
| MTV |
Music Television (24-hour music channel) |
| MU |
Musicians’ Union; Manchester United Football Club; Mothers Union |
| mum |
mother; chrysanthemum |
| mun |
municipal |
| mus |
museum; music; musical |
| MusB |
Bachelor of Music |
| MusD |
Doctor of Music |
| MV |
market value; motor vessel; muzzle velocity |
| MVD |
Ministerstvo vnutrenhikh del = former Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, succeeded by the KVD (Soviet Committee for Internal Affairs) in 1960 |
| MVO |
Member of the Royal Victorian Order; male voice over (TV and films) |
| MVS |
Master of Veterinary Surgery |
| MVSc |
Master of Veterinary Science |
| MW |
Master of Wine; megawatt; medium wave |
| mW |
milliwatt |
| MY |
motor yacht |
| MYOB |
mind your own business |
| mycol |
mycology; mycological |
| myth |
mythology; mythological |
| myxo |
myxomatosis (Australia) |
