Click below to listen to the phrase.
Choose the correct definition a, b or c.
b) confusion
Well done ! That’s the right answer.
’Alphabet soup’ refers to a confusing or confused mixture of things, especially of initials (as of the names of organizations) ; an array of abbreviations or acronyms
Synonyms of ’alphabet soup’
agglomerate, agglomeration, miscellany, assortment, botch, clutter, collage, crazy quilt, farrago, gallimaufry, grab bag, gumbo, hash, hodgepodge, hotchpotch, jambalaya, jumble, jungle, litter, macédoine, medley, mélange, menagerie, miscellanea, mishmash, mixed bag, montage, motley, muddle, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, pastiche, patchwork, patchwork quilt, potpourri, ragbag, ragout, rummage, salad, salmagundi, scramble, shuffle, smorgasbord, stew, tumble, variety, welter
How NOT to translate : *une soupe à l’alphabet, but maybe it’s ok to translate it that way actually.
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Examples in context
‘Alphabet soup as Kazakh leader orders switch from Cyrillic to Latin letters
Third change in less than 100 years partly aims to distance country from Russia and make it simpler to use on digital devices
Kazakhstan is to change its official alphabet for the third time in less than 100 years in what is seen in part as a symbolic move to underline its independence.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered his office on Thursday to prepare for a switch to a Latin-based alphabet from a Cyrillic one, distancing itself, at least graphically, from Russia.
The oil-rich former Soviet republic of 18 million has close ties with Moscow, its main trading partner, but is wary of Russia’s ambitions to maintain its political influence throughout the region.
Kazakh, a Turkic language, used to be written in Arabic script until the 1920s when the Soviet Union briefly introduced a Latin alphabet.
This was later replaced by a Cyrillic one in 1940, based on the Russian alphabet.’
The Guardian, 27 Oct. 2017
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’Save me from this alphabet soup - PDQ ! CRAIG BROWN on his visit to the Acronym Academy
An invitation arrived from the AA — not Alcoholics Anonymous or the Automobile Association or the Architectural Association or the Academy Awards or Audits and Assessments or Air Ambulance or American Airlines, but from the Acronym Academy.
It’s a new organisation, formed to promote UIDCW, or the use of initials in documents and conversations worldwide.
‘RSVP, ASAP,’ read the invitation, followed by ‘PTO’.
I turned it over. ‘PS’ it read, ‘BTW, FYI, BAB. CU !’
By now, I was beginning to feel out of my depth. ‘I know what PS means,’ I said to my wife. ‘And then it’s By The Way and For Your Information. But what is BAB ?’
She looked puzzled. ‘It can only mean one of two things. Either Beavis and Butt-Head are going to be there, or we’re going to have to listen to a talk on Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry.’
The Daily Mail, 20 July 2017
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Everyday usage
Their business-speak is alphabet soup.
All of these acronyms in the manual have started to look like alphabet soup.
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