Some acronyms in Japan, despite being composed of alphabets, can have different meanings than in the English speaking world. Not unreasonable acronyms, but it might catch a non-native speaker off-guard.

  • GHQ ("General Headquarters") - SCAP ("Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers")
  • OK and NG ("No Good") - success and failure
  • OVA ("Original Video Animation") - anime sold directly on disc (historically, on tape) rather than broadcasted on TV first
  • ONA ("Original Net Animation") - direct-to-Internet anime
  • PV ("promotional video") - music video (aside: I have heard this referred to as "MTV" by Chinese speakers)
  • SNS ("Social Networking Service") - social networking
  • VTR ("video tape recording") - video footage