IR != Infrared

As a student of international relations (IR), I have been well aware of the over-abundance of acronyms and abbreviations in the field for many years. One of the best things about my class on Relaciones Internacionales de América Latina y el Caribe, many years ago now, was that I learned the terms of art all over again, en español.

Aliza recently posted about the need for translation in pharmacies, and in medicine more generally, something she knows from work experience.

In my world things like this are very important if you are going to be professionally fluent (Spanish --> English):
ONU = UN
OEA = OAS
EU = US
UE = EU
ONG = NGO
TLC = FTA
PIB = GDP
ADM = WMD
APL = SALW
MTA = APL

Grad school, of course, takes the acronyms to a whole new level. But that's a subject for another day.