Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | TLA /T-L-A/ n. [Three-Letter Acronym] 1. Self-describing abbreviation for a species with which computing terminology is infested. 2. Any confusing acronym. Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA, CPU, MMU, SCCS, DMU, FPU, NNTP, TLA. People who like this looser usage argue that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all four-letter words have four letters. One also hears of `ETLA' (Extended Three-Letter Acronym, pronounced /ee tee el ay/) being used to describe four-letter acronyms; the terms `SFLA' (Stupid Four-Letter Acronym), `LFLA' (Longer Four Letter Acronym), and VLFLA (Very Long Five Letter Acronym) have also been reported. See also YABA. The self-effacing phrase "TDM TLA" (Too Damn Many...) is often used to bemoan the plethora of TLAs in use. In 1989, a random of the journalistic persuasion asked hacker Paul Boutin "What do you think will be the biggest problem in computing in the 90s?" Paul's straight-faced response: "There are only 17,000 three-letter acronyms." (To be exact, there are 26^3 = 17,576.) There is probably some karmic justice in the fact that Paul Boutin subsequently became a journalist. Source: Jargon File. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
TLA | English | Texaco lead appreciator | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: TLA |
| Specialty definitions using "TLA": BWQ ♦ three-letter acronym, TLAs ♦ YABA. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "TLA" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Tswana (will). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Periodicals |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Trade | Philippines | The DENR allows the importation of wood materials (including logs and lumber, plywood and veneer, poles and piles) by a holder of Timber License Agreement (TLA), Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA), Wood Processing Plant Permit (WPPP) or Certificate of Registration (CR) as furniture manufacturer, agent, contractor, or dealer of logs and lumber; provided that the holder shall have his TLA, IFMA, WPPP or CR registered with the Philippine Wood Producers Association (PWPA) and subsequently stamped by the Office of the Regional Executive Director/DENR as a valid Authority to Import. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
tla video | 150 |
tla | 137 |
philadelphia tla | 28 |
adoption tla | 11 |
releasing tla | 7 |
golden sun tla | 4 |
philly tla | 4 |
cmps mlsx.htm tla tla.rexplorer.net | 4 |
280 flash tla | 3 |
philadelphia tla video | 3 |
associate tla | 2 |
onecišcenje tla | 2 |
movie tla | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words containing "TLA": atlantes, atlas, atlases, atlatl, atlatls, bootlace, bootlaces, coastland, coastlands, cutlas, cutlases, cutlass, cutlasses, flatland, flatlander, flatlanders, flatlands, footlambert, footlamberts, forestland, forestlands, heartland, heartlands, outlaid, outlain, outland, outlander, outlanders, outlandish, outlandishly, outlandishness, outlandishnesses, outlands, outlast, outlasted, outlasting, outlasts, outlaugh, outlaughed, outlaughing, outlaughs, outlaw, outlawed, outlawing, outlawries, outlawry, outlaws, outlay, outlaying, outlays, pentlandite. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: alt, lat. | |
| Words within the letters "a-l-t" | |
-1 letter: al, at, la, ta. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-l-t" | |
+1 letter: alit, alto, alts, blat, flat, halt, last, late, lath, lati, lats, lota, malt, plat, salt, slat, tael, tail, tala, talc, tale, tali, talk, tall, teal, tela, tola. | |
+2 letters: adult, aglet, alant, alate, alert, alist, allot, aloft, altar, alter, altho, altos, aptly, artal, artel, atilt, atlas, atoll, blast, blate, blats, bleat, bloat, clapt, clast, cleat, dealt, delta, dotal, eclat, elate, exalt, fatal, fatly, fault, fetal, flats, float, flota, gault, gloat, halts, laith, laity, lasts, latch, lated, laten, later, latex, lathe, lathi, laths, lathy, latke, latte, leant, leapt, least, lepta, litai, litas, loath, lotah, lotas, lovat, lutea, lyart, lytta, malts, malty, metal, natal, notal, octal, palet, patly, petal, plait, plant, plate, plats, platy, pleat, ratal, ratel, salts, salty, sault, setal, shalt, slant, slate, slats, slaty, smalt, splat, stale, stalk, stall, steal, stela, tabla, table, taels, tails, talar, talas, talcs, taler, tales, talks, talky, tally, talon, taluk, talus, tamal, teals, telae, telia, tepal, tesla, tical, tidal, tilak, tolan, tolar, tolas, tonal, total, trail, trawl, trial, tubal, typal, ultra, valet, vault, vital, volta, waltz. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)54 4C 41 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)- .-.. .- |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010100 01001100 01000001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)T L A |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0054 004C 0041 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)544635 |
| 1. Crosswords 2. Usage: Commercial 3. Quotations: Non-fiction 4. Expressions: Internet | 5. Abbreviations 6. Acronyms 7. Derivations 8. Anagrams | 9. Orthography 10. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
