Too Many Acronymns

MortSahlFan wrote: Yesterday's acronym will be obsolete in a few days.. I love going back (even closed threads) to read, but it can be difficult. Does anyone else notice WAY too many acronyms? Anyone else not able to understand them all? Some say it's to save time, but I think it does the opposite - time going into searching, finding multiple results, or assuming to understand. It takes 2 seconds to type it out.

You should try working in IT!  Too many TLAs.

I think that acronyms, initialism, and abbreviations are often over-used, but I don't usually have problem with them in context, and quite like to figure out or seek those that I don't know. Deciphering can be fun for me in much the same way that I liked to come up with codes with my friends when I was young (knowing them can make you feel like more of a group with insider, arcane knowledge, but it can leave others feeling left out).

I edit papers and reports. I often come across initialism that seems too jargonistic for me, but it does serve its purpose. One that commonly is used in papers that I work on is KSF, in this case meaning Key Success Factors, but KSF can stand for many more things such as Knowledge & Skills Framework and Kangaroo Special Forces. What I would do is start with writing Key Success Factors (KSF) and afterwards I could just write KSF.

Acronyms can be useful, such as SCUBA and LASER (most would not know what both of those even stand for), but it can get confusing when they are uncommon. With initialism, such as DT, is one referring to Dream Theater, delirium tremens, Deep Throat, Deadsoul Tribe, or Do That! Context can help, but it can be hard to tell. If someone says "I love DT". Does he or she mean "I love deep throat" or "I love Dream Theater", or both? It depends on the community, deep throat is more rock & roll, methinks.

When I first read LOL, I got a sense of what it might mean, and when looking it up, I figured it meant Laughing Out Loud rather than Lots of Love.

I once thought about creating a WAYLTRN? (What Are You Listening to Right Now?) document, which compiled every post in those threads at PA (erm, I mean Prog Archives, not Penile Agitator), but the abbreviations became a challenge. It would have been a huge waste of time, and would not have sold as well as the 130th edition of "The Ultimate What Are You Eating and Drinking Right Now Compendium".

IDK WTF THS FKG THG!

And the acronyms are sometimes ambiguous... For example, the band Yes played CTTE (Close to the Edge) on CTTE (Cruise to the Edge).  The latter acronym isn't as widely used, but can still be confusing.

chopper wrote: wiz_d_kidd wrote: And the acronyms are sometimes ambiguous... For example, the band Yes played CTTE (Close to the Edge) on CTTE (Cruise to the Edge).  The latter acronym isn't as widely used, but can still be confusing.   CTTE is not an acronym, it's an initialisation. It's only an acronym if it's a pronounceable word such as radar.   Just call me Captain Pedantic.

I don't think palindromes are a problem.