Every area has its acronyms, its short abbreviations that help locals refer to things that get talked about over an over again without using extra syllables. It also helps to confuse people who aren't familiar with the lingo.

Here's a list of links to some of the acronyms that you might want to drop when you are trying to sound a little bit more in-the-know than someone else, and a decoder ring to help you make up a new acronym if you need to play the game yourself. They are focused specifically on local groups.

My best source for local acronyms is the acronyms category on Arborwiki, which lists 158 area acronyms. I am certain that is only a fraction of what's out there.

AA - Ann Arbor. This is by far the most common prefix, with organizations ranging from the AABG (Ann Arbor Brewers Guild) to the AAFF (Ann Arbor Film Festival) to the AASDA (Ann Arbor Swing Dance Association). AASDA is affiliated with AACTMAD, the Ann Arbor Council for Traditional Music and Dance.

If you need an acronym for your organization, AA is a good place to start. It sorts high in alphabetical listings and it stands out.

A2 - Ann Arbor. Organizations with A2 names are less frequent than AA names. The one that I run, A2B3, adds another acronym to the mix: B3 is short for bi bim bap, a Korean dish served at one of the many Korean restaurants in town.

AAA or A3 - Ann Arbor Area. Generally, organizations that start with AAA are based in Ann Arbor, but draw enough membership from the surrounding area that they add an extra "A" to give themselves room to admit people from Ypsilanti. Thus the A3C3, or Ann Arbor Area Crappy Camera Club, devoted to low fidelity silver-based film photography, the AAACVB, the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and AAABoR or Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors.

HR - Huron River. The mighty Huron River rises out of the Huron Swamp in Indian Springs Metropark in northern Oakland County, and flows through Oakland, Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Monroe on its 136-mile journey to Lake Erie. Organizations like the HRWC (Huron River Watershed Council) and the City of Ann Arbor's HRIMP (Huron River and Impoundment Management Plan) use the river's name in their acronyms.

SEM - South Eastern Michigan. These groups typically cover the area commonly known as "metro Detroit"; no one is precisely sure what the boundaries are for this area, but Ann Arbor is part of it and Lansing, Toledo, and Flint are not. SEMCOG is the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments; SEMJA is the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association.

UM, M - University of Michigan. I could easily fill an entire daily blog post with the new acronyms and new organizations that come out of the University of Michigan annually as student, faculty and staff work hard to come up with clever names to describe this year's funded project. UMGASS is the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and MUSKET, a University student theater troupe with the remarkable acronyms "Michigan Union Shows, Ko-eds Too," got its name in 1956 when the all-male Michigan Union Opera Company first admitted females.

W, WC - Washtenaw, Washtenaw County. Many county-wide government organizations start with W, including the WCBRA (Washtenaw County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority) and WCC (Washtenaw Community College).

Y - Ypsilanti. YAAARC is the sound that your robot makes when it drives off the end of the workbench; it's also the name of the Ypsilanti Ann Arbor Area Robotics Club.

Edward Vielmetti is the founder of A2B3, the Ann Arbor Bi Bim Bap lunch group, and the founder of NAPLO, the National Association of Professional Lunch Organizers.