Could I please calmly and politely request AGAIN that posters not use acronyms unless

[Atticus]

they are COMMONLY used and understood?

We should not have to Google a string of letters in order to understand your post.

I don't need to give examples because MANY know what I'm talking about.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. YBBI

You better believe it

[GreenWave]

2. Guessing it was that FF on display?

If you all got it, GINVU.

For our Spanish viewers only: ¡SOCKS!

[Jilly_in_VA]

119. I remember that!

It was in my Spanish book!

[MyMission]

3. I second that request

I must say that some "common" acronyms come and go, and I understand many here use them once they have seen them and know what they are. That doesn't mean the rest of us do.

It took me weeks to google NFT, which was all over the place when tfg released his trading cards.
Non fungible token? I still don't understand that!

But I absolutely agree with your post

[PatSeg]

51. I've also gotten the impression

that some people just make up acronyms as they go, either because they are too lazy to write out the words or they are intentionally being cryptic perhaps to make others feel inferior.

As for "non fungible tokens", I wonder if we are meant to not completely understand the terminology. Maybe it makes them more desirable? The whole thing is bizarre to me, but it appears that NFTs could be a way for wealthy people to launder illegal money. We truly live in very strange times.

[PCIntern]

4. IDKWYATA.

[Atticus]

6. YYD! nt

[cachukis]

8. Huh?

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. You left out the TF after the W.

IDKWTFYATA

[PCIntern]

10. It would actually be TF

[ShazzieB]

32. What are you even talking about?

I have googled every string of letters in every reply here and got nothing. Is this supposed to be funny?

[PCIntern]

34. Understood and sorry:

Ok:

It’s “I don’t know what (the fuck) you’re talking about “

[ShazzieB]

46. Thank you.

I appreciate it. I think the extra a (IDKWTFYATA instead of IDKWTFYTA) is what threw off my Google searches.

I use abbreviations myself, but I usually stick to some of the most common ones, like WTF and YMMV. I always assumed everyone knows those, but maybe not!

[Delmette2.0]

49. What is YMMV ?

I seriously don't know.

[Harker]

54. Your mileage may vary.

[Delmette2.0]

55. Thank you. 🙂

[Harker]

57. Sure thing!

An entire shorthand has developed since text messages became commonplace, in part among people for whom greetings and expressions of thanks are viewed as a waste of time.

[electric_blue68]

103. Wait .. . What's wrong with TY & YW? 😉

[Harker]

108. I'll come up with something...

when I decipher them.

[electric_blue68]

110. 😄👍

[LakeArenal]

43. So asking politely causes others to respond in acronyms? 🙄

Why do people need to be so contrary? On purpose.

I don’t get it either.

PS. Sometimes when searched there are more than on meaning too.

[jaxexpat]

53. Yeah, it's the misspelled acronyms that bother me.

[bdamomma]

118. Ok, I give

up what is it???? Yes, it gets to be too much at times. It's like a secret language.

Never mind my 26 yr old daughter told me.

[calguy]

5. OK, SHM and LOL

[padah513]

15. I see it lol

[ShazzieB]

48. SHM is another one that has confusing search results.

Did you mean SMH (shaking my head) or SHM (somebody hit me)?

If it's not one of those I'm lost.

[MyMission]

104. SIL has bothered me for years

I have neither a Sister in law (SIL) nor a Son in law (SIL)

Of course this can be easily remedied by adding a pronoun clue.
My SIL blah blah, and s/he has always done so.
Most folks don't think of that, but some do.

[SCantiGOP]

79. Why does "OK" mean?

Spell it out.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. SNAFU

Goes way back pre-WWI

Situation Normal All Fucked Up

[PCIntern]

12. And FUBAR.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

14. Fucked Up By All Recognition

[niyad]

20. Beyond, not by?

[PCIntern]

35. URC, my friend.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

68. Yes. Where is my head this morning. FUBAR for sure.

[niyad]

70. Lack of caffeine??

[Hekate]

109. Beyond

So my dad said.
But he also substituted “fouled” in both SNAFU and FUBAR.
WWII.

[bdamomma]

121. Geez,

I feel totally embarrassed after all these years I finally know what it means.

[vanlassie]

137. Beyond. Not By

[3catwoman3]

50. And then there is JANFU - Joint Army-Navy...

...Fuck Up -

[niyad]

67. That is a new one to me!

[3catwoman3]

97. Told to me years ago...

...when I was in the Air Force nurse corps.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Thank goodness for the 'Urban Dictionary'.

[Happy Hoosier]

13. IKR!!! NT

[Chakaconcarne]

16. You only need to look it up once.....

[Atticus]

17. One more time than I should have to. nt

[highplainsdem]

44. Atticus, would you stop using a word that describes something

accurately and succinctly because some people might have to look it up? Should we all stick to Basic English? And never EVER use foreign-language words and phrases we're familiar with seeing used by English speakers, in case someone might have to look them up?

It takes only seconds to google meanings, and you've learned something new, which is not only useful but good for brain health.

[Warpy]

83. Most of it is PhoneSpeak, commonly used in text messaging

to reduce monthly surcharges when they'd accrue quickly. I try to avoid it most of the time, but sometimes my hands hurt and I slip into some of the more common ones.

I've also had to scurry over to Urban Dictionary from time to time, but most of the abbreviations are on Wikipedia, so a simple search should turn them up without having to load a page. Most of my own alphabet soup is medical and little of it is accessible online, to I try to avoid it as much as I can.

The only ones I object to are U (you), R (are), Y (why), H8 (hate), and other similar ones. Those are just plain lazy and are dead giveaways to a juvenile mind.

KWIM?

[ShazzieB]

39. Not me.

If I don't see it again for a while, it doesn't stick in my mind. At least once a day, I google some abbreviation and then realize oh, yeah, I've seen that one before.

[Polly Hennessey]

18. The one I hate the most is "ty".

Just say, thank you. It can’t take that much longer type. Oh, well.

[oswaldactedalone]

22. ty for that!!

[sir pball]

136. Kthx, bai!

[RamblingRose]

19. My 90 y/o mom uses LOL for Lots of Love

[moonscape]

24. Precious :)

[Dorian Gray]

28. HAHAHA

my mom thinks it's for Lots of Love too!

[PCIntern]

38. That was a funny joke/texting skit

Where the daughter tells her mother that her friend was killed in an auto accident and the mother text back “lol” and the daughter doesn’t get it and it goes on and on and finally the mother says that she thinks tha lol means “lots of love”

[bdamomma]

123. LOL

could that also be lots of laughs???

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. What does AGAIN stand for

[Effete Snob]

63. Atticus Going Apeshit Is Normal

[Scrivener7]

89. That's not nice.

[sl8]

95. Anyone Giving Acronyms Instead of Names nt

[gab13by13]

23. I would not look this one up because I was stubborn,

I wanted to figure it out for myself, and voila, I finally did. FIFY.

[Emile]

25. WSC

[Beastly Boy]

26. This is a matter of common courtesy.

It takes a lot more time for a dozen or so readers to each look up the merning of any abbreviation than to spell it out.

An inconsiderate and unnecessary waste of other people's time and effort.

[TNNurse]

27. I have to wonder if those who responded in acronyms

thought they were being helpful or just being insensitive.

I worked in healthcare for 37 years, by the time I retired there were so many repetitive acronyms it was dangerous. Calling diseases, syndromes, lab results and treatments by an acronym already in use...can be dangerous, even lethal.

[Boomerproud]

100. Insensitive.

nt

[TNNurse]

141. Actually, very disappointing.

There are other words I will keep to myself.

[DashOneBravo]

146. Or humorous

Lots of smiles etc.

Also I meant no disrespect

[Paladin]

29. IGSFTOUUD.

"I Get So Fucking Tired Of Using Urban Dictionary."

[Firestorm49]

30. 👍 Atticus.

[Botany]

31. TY this information is GTK FYI

IKWYTA I know what you're talking about

[WhiskeyGrinder]

33. Honestly, the whole "should" thing around "we shouldn't have to google" is so weird to me.

What's wrong with a little curiosity and learning? Why *should* people type things out, if they feel an abbreviation says what they want to say in the way they want to say it?

[Atticus]

37. ICACOY. ( I Can Always Count On You ) BYH! nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

47. Always happy to provide a different perspective!

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. I like learning new stuff. Bring it on.

[highplainsdem]

45. +1,000,000. It's also good for brain health, especially as people get older.

[Ferrets are Cool]

106. If I don't learn something new every day, I feel as though I am missing something.

DU and YouTube are big parts of that. News shows, not so much, if at all.

[GenThePerservering]

133. Exactly that

move ahead, learn things.

[twodogsbarking]

40. OK

[gab13by13]

41. I think that BYOB started all of this.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

61. Or maybe it started with "INRI" at the top of a cross.

But probably earlier than that.

[robbob]

111. RSVP!

Means “please reply”. It’s an acronym of a FRENCH phrase, for crying out loud! So not even possible to figure out an English abbreviated phrase…

[ShazzieB]

126. Yes, it stands for "respondez s'il vous plait."

This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I took French in high school. 😁

It comes in handy when watching cooking shows on TV, too. I'm just glad in general that I took French. You never know when it's going to pop up.

[IronLionZion]

42. NT, EOM

[ShazzieB]

52. I don't usually mind acronyms.

I use some of them myself, and I don't plan to stop completely. But all the replies in that form in this thread are annoying. Also kind of rude, when you just asked people not to use so many of them.

This thread is making me irritable, so I will now make my exit.

[Meowmee]

56. ffs wtfitmwu? 😹

[BidenRocks]

58. There are two I always think wrong

SMH So much hate

FTW Fuck the world

[ShazzieB]

127. SMH can also mean "shaking my head," which I think is fine.

The problem is, it's not always easy to tell which is meant.

[vanlassie]

138. FTW

For the win

[patphil]

59. I agree with you, but you have inadverntly given me a good laugh while looking at the responses.

Thank You.

[JohnnyRingo]

60. OK

Now if I can find something to do with the time I saved there.

[Effete Snob]

62. TANSTAAFL

Last edited Tue Jan 17, 2023, 12:55 PM - Edit history (1)

[SCantiGOP]

80. You left out the 'ain't'

The original, which came from Robert Heinlein, was There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

[Ford_Prefect]

64. When I see a plethora of acronyms and abbreviated catch-phrases I assume the poster has spent far

too much time texting or on email for their own good. I wonder if they could not probably spell out those ideograms as coherent remarks. Although I am guilty on occasion of the same abuse, it is far from habitual.

I suspect the broader use of them is related to texting in particular.

[littlemissmartypants]

65. That's never going to happen but I feel your pain.

There's a proper way to post acronyms but people

1) are aware of but don't use
2) aren't aware of
3) aware but don’t care
4) make up sh¡t as they go
5) will now be using MORE acronyms just to ruffle your feathers.

This issue has been a swirling debate here for Years.

Suggestions: learn to meditate, serenity prayer, let go let God, fight the illusion that people will fall into line over acronyms because you want them to and good luck with that.

Or we all could, set an example by posting references, and proper guidelines for using acronyms. One should easily find these things stored on their favorite search engine and while there, should picture themselves on treasures hunt.

Good luck to everyone!

I found this on my first try...
https://kathysteinemann.com/Musings/abbrev/

Stay encouraged, Atticus.



❤️ pants

[TheBlackAdder]

66. O shizl gzngahr BBBBBTTTTTGGGGTGGGGTGGGG shzn blah hary% + 7, , 1 9 3 4 19 ckin etd vaus erstn gubl

.



.

[Paper Roses]

69. It probably takes as much time to type the words as it does to do the Acronyms.

I agree that it is a pain in the neck to try and figure out some of them. If I can't, I pass. No time to fiddle around trying to Google the meaning. Courtesy is appreciated. Just spell the darn thing out and help those of us who can't interpret shorthand.

[33taw]

71. It is okay to ask if you can't figure it out.

[Stuart G]

72. This is NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED. ...WILL IT BE THE LAST TIME?

i DON'T KNOW... Maybe, maybe not.

Put it to a vote: Last time, or many more?....I don't know how to have a vote.........someone else do it..please

[frogmarch]

73. After googling one yesterday,

I thought, WITELBJA?

(What if the English language becomes just acronyms?)

[Hermit-The-Prog]

143. All communication comes about by mutual agreement about the symbols used.

[NJCher]

74. just observe the rule for writing

The first time an acronym or initialism is used, put the full explanation in parentheses:

AFAIC (as far as I am concerned)

DINK (double income no kids)

After that you are free to use the acronym without parentheses in your post.

On your next post in another thread, use the parentheses again if you use an acronym/initialism.

-------

To do otherwise is to put the burden on your reader--meaning the time to struggle with your meaning or search it--all at your convenience because you didn't feel like writing it out, which is actually a very republican thing to do.

[people]

78. GI! (Good Idea!)

[NJCher]

91. --

[Midnight Writer]

101. That is how I was taught in school. It seems to be a reasonable solution to me.

[ananda]

75. I second that request!

Thank you

[StClone]

76. Putting country, state, city for clarity when needed

I often read most of an article and find no clue as to the exact, or even general, location.

[ToxMarz]

77. I don't see a problem with posters posting what they chose (within community guidelines)

Read what you like or don't, it's everyone's choice. Nothing here is 'mission critical'. It's not that difficult to look something up if you're curious, you're already on the internet if you're here. I have more of aversion to all the post insisting that others only post what they want to read.

[SCantiGOP]

82. OK

Which stands for Oklahoma.

[Emile]

87. Or okay!

[llmart]

81. My approach to those posts

I don't take the poster seriously and I don't take their posts seriously. I stop reading and move on. In other words, what they are saying isn't in the least bit interesting or important to me.

[Emile]

85. LOL

[NullTuples]

84. How about we follow the established standard of spelling it out the first time?

That's been the journalistic standard for a half-century that I'm personally anecdotally aware of. Spell it out, put the acronym in parenthesis, then it's okay to use throughout the rest of the piece.

Example:

"Vladimir Putin took control of what was once the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He then proceeded to use the resources of the USSR to make himself and a select group of friends incredibly wealthy. His ultimate goal was to destroy the United States of America (USA), which had been the adversary of the USSR for half a century."


Note: Some would argue that it's okay to not spell out an acronym if it's already in wide use, such as USA in the example above. This is a matter of debate since "wide use" determination can be quite relativistic. A term may be in wide use within the writer's subculture but unknown outside of it.

[efhmc]

86. Plus it just makes me feel old and stupid.Not a good feeling.

[dweller]

90. Ok then

efhmc


😐



✌🏻

[Wicked Blue]

88. Let's start a group called ASSSA!

American Society to Stop Senseless Acronymming

[bdamomma]

124. Or re-route this

this kind of thread to "the lounge".

[orleans]

92. bothers me too. sometimes i ask the poster what it means

and then, if they're nice enuf, they'll type it out for me.

sometimes when i google i can't find shit--and figure they're making it up and expect everyone to read their minds

recently someone posted a garble of 14 letters--i asked what it was but they haven't answered. maybe it was simply a jumble of shit that was intended to be just that--a jumble of shit

most often, when i see acronyms that's not one of the simpler ones i'm familiar with i figure: meh--if they can't be bothered making themselves clear then it probably isn't important or doesn't matter--not even to the person who wrote it (so i either discredit or discard what they're saying)

the easy ones for me:
nt or n/t = no text (which i use on the reply title line as a courtesy so people don't have to click on my response -- they can see it begins and ends in the reply title)
tfg = the former guy
lol = laugh out loud (which i also use a lot)
lmao = laughing my ass off
ty = thank you
rt = retweet
k&r = kick & recommend
wtf = what the fuck?
wth = what the hell?
smh = shaking my head

anyway--you're not alone

[Pluvious]

105. Great reply, my gonzo friend... A few more...

Last edited Sat Jan 21, 2023, 04:53 PM - Edit history (5)

( as a regular reader of Reddit, I need to keep up heh )

AFAIK - As Far As I Know
BTW - By The Way
ELI5 - Explain Like I'm Five (years old)
FTW - For The Win (awesome achievement)
GFY - Go Fuk Yourself
GTFO - Get The Fuk Out (of here)
ICYMI - In Case You Missed It
IDK / IDNKT - I Don't Know / I Did Not Know That
IHML - I Hate My Life (one who still lives with his mama)
IIRC - If I Recall Correctly
IKR - I Know Right! (affirming agreement)
IMHO - (or IMO) In My Humble Opinion
JFYI / FYI - Just For Your Information
LYK - Let You Know
TBH - To Be Honest
TIL - Today I Learned (also a popular subreddit)
YOLO - You Only Live Once (like investing into a meme stock like a fool)

[orleans]

115. i think we both missed this one:

FYI = for your information

BTW = by the way

and the most obvious one of all:

FU

how the hell did i forget that last one???

[ShazzieB]

129. I knew most of these.

Not sue about this one, though:

LYI - Let You Know

Was that meant to be LYK?

[Pluvious]

142. Good catch, thanks ! nt.

[Maeve]

148. And a big current one...FAFO

F around, find out

[bdamomma]

125. hey Orleans

now I finally know what "tfg" means

[orleans]

128. lol. glad i could help. i never really use it; i just call it by name... or douchebag. :) nt

[bdamomma]

134. or slobfather

there's many words we could use for that POS.

[Bettie]

93. If I'm on a phone, I tend to use more

abbreviated terms. On PC I will type it all out.

I don't think people do this to annoy you and others, but sometimes, there are reasons to use shortened terms or acronyms.

And I'll admit, some of them confuse me.

[snowybirdie]

94. You've seemed

To have let the inmates out of the asylum with this. My sympathies. Keep trying!

[DashOneBravo]

96. You should have known how this would play

BOHICA

[intheflow]

98. I use the Urban Dictionary when I don't understand an acronym.

In this world where people type opuses on their cell phones, I understand the need for brevity. And I'm fine with it. Just look it up if you don't know it/can't figure it out. No need to scold people who communicate differently than you.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/

[garybeck]

99. I'm a technical writer for a very big company

Every single acronym in our documents has to be defined. It doesn't matter if it's commonly known or not.

[Pobeka]

107. OMG! No "OMG"'s in this thread so far.

SMH, what has become of us. I'm ashamed.

[Hekate]

112. I had to finally look up ICYM and write it down, because it looks like "icy" something

Somebody over on Reddit gets quoted here, and their name looks like an acronym — but apparently that’s just their handle.

[A HERETIC I AM]

113. We should keep this on the QT.

Sorry, Atticus. Couldn't resist. I'm also ashamed at this board that no one else put up this scene yet. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!

[electric_blue68]

114. I don't have a computer. Until Covid I first used computers in a Net Cafe ('95), the library...

when I was able to buy my first tablet (?2015), I took that to the Library for free WiFi.

I was able to get a nice smartphone for a good price, and a unlimited talk, text & data plan. So I do all my texting etc on this phone now. Even once I get into the habit of using my tablet w my smartphone as a hotspot I'll still not have a computer. ($ issue)

Thus I use some acronyms to save my fingers, hands a few extra taps. 👍
I look something up if I don't know it.

[48656c6c6f20]

116. YAFLOHTPODU

[Elessar Zappa]

117. SCYFSI.

[ismnotwasm]

120. Sure.

[Mr.Bill]

122. Here's a site to look them up:

https://www.internetslang.com/trending.asp

I want to point out that K&R is something I had to ask about here. It's not used anywhere else.

[usonian]

130. For the longest time, it was Kernighan and Ritchie, THE classic "C" Programming book.

C Programming Language, or, as it is commonly known, K&R (after the authors, Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie) is classic in its rapidly expanding field. If you're reading this, in fact, you probably already have it. And if you don't have it, you should.
https://www.cprogramming.com/books/ritchie.html

Some acronyms are ambiguous. (SAAA!)
Learning new things keeps one young!

[usonian]

131. 308 acronyms explained here:

https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/

Actually, I like Paraprosdokians better.
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/paraprosdokian-40-funny-sentences-you-wont-expect.html

A paraprosdokian is a sentence or statement with an unexpected ending. It means “against expectations” in Greek, and typically puts the first part of the sentence in a new and humorous context.

[GenThePerservering]

132. Acronyms are very easy to look up

[ShazzieB]

135. After thinking it over...

I've realized that I really don't mind googling the occasional abbreviation. What I do mind is googling a string of letters and not being able to pull up an answer. That gets on my nerves.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of examples of this in these replies. Some are meant as jokes, I think, but it's not always easy to tell. That makes it very unfunny to people like me who are just trying to follow a conversation.

My feeling is this: use abbreviations all you want (sorry, Atticus, these things are embedded in internet culture, and they're not going anywhere). Just please use REAL ones that someone like me can Google to find out they mean. Making stuff up may feel funny when you're doing it, but it's unkind to make people go search for things that don't exist, and when you're the one searching, it feels like a dirty trick (even though it may not have been meant that way).

[madinmaryland]

139. IBTL! A favorite from the early days of DU...

In before the lock (of a thread)

[DBoon]

140. Don't blame texting - 19th century telegraph operators used them too

... and early 20th century radio operators using morse code.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code_abbreviations

[DemocraticPatriot]

144. I hear ya, Atticus.

Pisses me off as well...

[DemocraticPatriot]

145. AOYMAUGFYITA

all of you mad acronym users go fuck yourself in the *ss

[Oldtimeralso]

147. This Thread is a PITA!

New title for the thread. "thread is becoming a PITA
Pain in the A@@!!!

[Brenda]

149. Man, DU has become an old folks home. nt

[Atticus]

150. Hmm----I thought ageism was frowned upon. Is it ok now? nt

[DemocraticPatriot]

153. GOML

Get off my lawn!

[ecstatic]

151. Request denied. HAGD! nt

Just kidding! But isn't it a little hypocritical to assume everyone knows what you're talking about?

By the way, if you're really curious about an acronym and can't tell the meaning based on context, you can always highlight the word, right click (or long press) and choose Google Search / web search etc on most browsers.

[SYFROYH]

152. Im convinced this Atticus is a performance artist.

Is this Earl? Are you messing with us?