Initial Shock

TL;DR (too long; didn't read). Academia is notoriously proud of its initials.

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The US has NYU and UCLA from coast to coast and a host of other universities in between—this makes for good name recall and fewer letters on sports scoreboards.

The Philippines has its own lettered royalty: UP, AdMU, DLSU, UST, SBC, for instance. Some even have nicknames—UP Los Baños a.k.a. "ElBi," because why waste words when you can sound cute and insider at the same time by giving initials a local spin?

Corporations are equally smitten. Global giants like IBM, CNN, BMW, GE, BBC, and HSBC have turned their initials into brands worth more than the GDP of developing nations. Locally, we've got institutions such as BPI, BDO, SM, PAL, and SMC. These names are short enough to fit on the side of a pen but large enough to plaster across entire skylines.

I won't even discuss medical initials—they only remind me of the tests I need to have done—or gaming, which can be too geeky for comfort; or porn, which is un-PC from any angle.