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Three Letter Acronyms #1

Guess these common three letter acronyms and initialisms.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 13, 2018
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First submittedMarch 15, 2014
Times taken61,844
Average score58.3%
Rating4.09
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Hint
Answer
USSR spy organization
KGB
Former militant arm of Sinn Féin
IRA
Raw material for genes
DNA
Munich automaker
BMW
Phase of sleep where dreams are most vivid
REM
Conservation group whose logo is a panda
WWF
Notable Mormon university
BYU
Colonel Sanders's restaurant
KFC
Sixth sense
ESP
JFK's successor
LBJ
Computer company known as "Big Blue"
IBM
Psychedelic drug
LSD
Hint
Answer
What George accused Saddam of having
WMD
Just add this for delicious umami taste
MSG
British dictionary with 22,000 pages
OED
"You've got mail!"
AOL
Red China
PRC
U.S. Republican party
GOP
Socialized medical service of the UK
NHS
National airline of the Netherlands
KLM
1980s TV alien
ALF
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc...
UAE
Australia's most populous state
NSW
Beer brand that hipsters like ironically
PBR
+3
Level 52
Apr 14, 2014
surprised at how few people got NHS
+11
Level 78
Jun 6, 2016
I'm surprised at how much people got it right. The UK represents less that 1% of the world's population. Why anyone outside of it should know about the acronym of their healthcare system? Do you know Sweden's? Italy's? Peru's?
+10
Level 86
Nov 9, 2018
Because it's the national religion of a major country.

In terms of health outcomes it fairs on a par with Algeria - far below, say, Sweden's or Italy's (though above the US when you factor in those without access there). Few, if any, have copied it. But it's blasphemy to admit either thing in the UK, and so people don't know better - hence incorrect comments like Tish418's.

Oh, it's also one of the world's top-5 biggest employers.

+6
Level 57
Apr 12, 2019
sihollett religion- am I missing a joke here?
+6
Level 84
May 5, 2019
Where is that data coming from sihollett? I searched a fair few rankings without finding it, and would be interested to see. Don't disagree that criticism of the NHS is blasphemous in UK politics, though plenty of Tories want to move it further towards the private sector, and complaining about it in general life isn't uncommon. These are some results I found from the last WHO ranking of health systems I could find (2000, admittedly dated) picking out the countries you mention. Closest to your statement is the second list, but still quite different by ranking (unfortunately can't tell from it how large or small the difference is between places):

Overall health system performance: Italy 2nd, UK 18th, Sweden 23rd, USA 37th, Algeria 81st

Performance by level of health: Italy 3rd, Sweden 21st, UK 24th, Algeria 45th, USA 72nd

Attainment of goals by level of health: Sweden 4th, Italy 6th, UK 14th, USA 24th, Algeria 84th

+1
Level 66
May 5, 2019
If percentage of the world population is an indication for things, there are a lot of weird assumption to be made about all sorts of things,. Well actually, not weird conclusions at all, but highest population usually gets outweighed by other things.

I hope my point comes across, transferring my thoughts into english is going less good than usual ;) )

Edit: like I am sure people know more about the UK than they do about pakistan. But pakistan has one of the biggest population of the world ( after china, indonesia, usa and brazil. I could ve chosen all but the usa for this example, but I think pakistan makes a stronger case)

+2
Level 54
Nov 18, 2016
im from the US but got i from the top gear episode where they all made ambulances haha
+1
Level 43
Jul 3, 2019
How would you know it if you're not from the UK
+2
Level 59
Jul 7, 2019
I was watching some British show on YouTube (forgot what it's called) about people with weird medical conditions and they talked about the NHS a few times and I guess it just stuck. Not to mention National Health System (I hope that's what it stands for) is pretty intuitive.
+3
Level 66
Aug 24, 2019
The same way we would know anything about america. Yet looking at a lot of comments (not everyone though) apparently they seem to think the rest of the world knows or should know every obscure little detail about the usa (like products we dont have here or tiny cities that are not ever in the news)
+7
Level 27
Apr 14, 2014
whats PBR? never heard of it
+1
Level 59
Apr 14, 2014
Pabst Blue Ribbon.
+1
Level 72
Jul 1, 2017
It was a new one to me as well
+3
Level 77
Nov 9, 2018
It stands for Public Borrowing Rate. But, like most TLAs, there may be many alternatives.
+3
Level 66
May 5, 2019
Only available in 5 countries... ( probably even less in 2014) so quite logical not to have heard from it. Not really international like heineken or seen a lot in movies etc like bud
+2
Level 65
Apr 14, 2014
I'm surprised hardly anyone knows what the NHS is. With the passing of the ACA (Obamacare) in the US, the NHS has been mentioned frequently in the news since our new system is trying to be what the NHS is.
+1
Level 75
Jun 5, 2016
I only knew it because I watch so many British TV shows on Netflix.
+1
Level 70
Nov 11, 2018
You're surprised 6 out of 10 people weren't familiar with a three letter acronym for the health care service of another country?
+4
Level 93
Jan 28, 2019
I don't think the NHS is out of place here. In terms of employee numbers its 1.6M is 400 times that of the Utah university and over 10 times that of the car manufacturer. Its budget of £137Bn is nearly twice that of said car company and over 100 times that of the university so its not out of the question that someone has heard of it to recall in a quiz. (Others on the list of course have more people involved and bigger budgets).
+3
Level 66
May 5, 2019
definitely less out of place than a university in another country. I hear NHS mentioned frequently, the university never.

(I have heard of MIT, ofxord, cambridge... and em... pretty sure another usa one aswell)

(caltech springs into my head, but no idea where that comes from, sometimes you know things you didnt know you knew... and still dont feel like you know...but you came up with it and it is right, so I guess you do know...)

+4
Level 41
May 17, 2014
Could you please change the GOP clue to "US Republican party"? As I said elsewhere, although many users of these quizzes are undoubtedly from the USA, this page operates in an international context and is used by an international community. There are/were many Republican parties in the world and GOP is just one of them.
+1
Level ∞
Feb 17, 2016
Okay
+2
Level 66
May 5, 2019
still does not ring any bells what so ever. The word republic does though. but that's about it.... politics isnt my thing anyway ( as in the names and people etc ofcourse I have an opinion what I like to see for the world)
+1
Level 10
Apr 16, 2016
0%... you should make a quiz like this for beginners
+9
Level 76
Jun 4, 2016
I hope you're younger than 8
+10
Level 59
Jun 4, 2016
Can you accept DMT for psychedelic drug as well?
+4
Level 85
Jun 5, 2016
I was thinking the same thing
+3
Level 65
Jul 29, 2020
Have u ever tried DMT? - Joe DMT Rogan
+5
Level 28
Jun 5, 2016
25/24, and I typed with my toes, and my eyes shut, in less than three seconds (I'm three months old by the way).
+8
Level 84
Jun 2, 2017
I got twice as many correct, in 4 seconds less, by having my blindfolded chihuahua, who was wearing flippers, type in the answers as I yelled them to him in Latin. I've been dead for 12 years.
+3
Level 66
May 5, 2019
the flippers did it, the death was overkill
+2
Level 78
Jun 18, 2021
...only 12 years? Pah!
+2
Level 46
Feb 10, 2017
How about adding DMT for the psychedelic drug?
+1
Level 63
May 5, 2017
What about CAS? Computer Algebra System. In calculators
+1
Level 78
Aug 13, 2017
Surely you can add TLA - Three Letter Acronym...
+2
Level 67
Oct 23, 2018
Would GRU not also apply to the Russian spy org?
+1
Level 72
Nov 9, 2018
It says USSR, not Russian though. I thought the same thing at first.
+3
Level 72
Nov 1, 2018
Very few acronyms in this list. Many initialisms, however.
+1
Level 69
Nov 9, 2018
omg idd, ccl, gtg
+1
Level 51
Nov 9, 2018
****. Didn't get DNA or BMW yet I managed get PBR
+1
Level 45
Nov 9, 2018
CCP (Chinese Communist Party) should be accepted for the China one?
+3
Level 72
Nov 9, 2018
That is the party, not the country.
+2
Level 66
Nov 9, 2018
Didn't know the World Wrestling Federation was a conservation group!
+6
Level 82
Nov 9, 2018
They had the Ultimate Warrior fight a giant panda for the rights to the acronym in 2002 and he lost.
+2
Level 75
Nov 9, 2018
Yeah, but the panda was on steroids, so there should be an asterisk next to the initials.
+2
Level 49
Nov 11, 2018
There's going to be a rematch during the next WrestleMania, I hear.
+5
Level 65
Nov 9, 2018
Hipsters round here drink IPA...
+2
Level 65
Nov 11, 2018
Lol i put in IPA too haha
+2
Level 66
May 5, 2019
yep (not a brand though, but still a more fitting connection)
+1
Level 54
Nov 10, 2018
Shoulda known PBR and IBM. Ah well.
+1
Level 70
May 15, 2021
Got 5/5 missing only OED. Please accept RBW for Royal Book of Words.
+2
Level 69
Mar 11, 2022
The NHS is not a fully 'socialised' system. Whilst the US may view it as socialism, it is correctly identified as a nationalised health care system (albeit one that is gradually being privatised) - please change.
+1
Level 73
Mar 11, 2022
DMT is also a three letter acronym for a psychedelic drug. Please accept that or be more specific in the clue.
+1
Level 76
Apr 28, 2022
I've seen this on other quizzes, and I'm still scratching my head. I have yet to see a hipster drinking PBR. Is this corroborated in any major geographic locations?
+1
Level 84
Aug 7, 2022
Please look up the definition of “acronym,” because KGB is not one! ‘Acronyms’ and ‘abbreviations’ are NOT interchangeable terms!
+1
Level 69
May 22, 2023
I've never heard of it either way but the clue "Beer brand that hipsters like ironically" seems subjective to a stupid degree.
+1
Level 74
Oct 24, 2023
No one drinks PBR "ironically" that's idiotic. It's a good, classy lite beer.