Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:52:38 -0500
Reply-To: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Tired of DIY or is it just Miy?(unfunny rant)
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2007101307380648@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
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We can take it to another level by noting that most of these are in the
category of TLA.
(three letter acronym) ;-)
On 10/13/07, Bill Glenn <idahobill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Friday NVC.
>
> Others have already pointed out that the source of the annoying e-mails
> was
> not the Vanagon List, and it seems you have an idea as to what happened;
> end of story there.
>
> However, in reference to the use of the terms DIY, and EFI, it was
> said, "Abbreviations have a worse effect than tires!", seemingly implying
> that such abbreviations are as annoying as another tire thread. Curious.
> Abbreviations, or more specifically in this instance, initialisms, are
> quite useful, a form of shorthand, if you will, that facilitates
> communication, verbal or written.
>
> In any given week on this list, we are likely to encounter all or some of
> the following abbreviations: VW, OEM, ECU, ICV, ICU, MAFS, LED, EFI, OXS,
> TPS, RPM, and NVC, to name a few. Surely we don't want to write out the
> full group of words to which these abbreviations refer. Similarly, in the
> context of a forum such as this, abbreviations such as AFAIK, IMHO, YMMV,
> are real time savers, and if not over-used, do not in any way degrade the
> content of the messages.
>
> Abbreviations are also ubiquitous in the larger world beyond this list;
> when was the last time you heard anyone say National Aeronautics and Space
> Administration, rather than its acronym, NASA? Sometimes, an acronym so
> thoroughly embeds itself in the lexicon, that the underlying group of
> words
> it represents is lost; how many amoung us remember, or ever knew, the
> group
> of words represented by RADAR, or LASER? These words are now rarely
> written as acronyms, i.e. in capital letters, but rather, simply radar and
> laser. Or consider the acronym, SNAFU, from WWII. This is sometimes
> heard
> in polite company, the user seemingly unaware of its crude origins.
>
> Should abbreviations be eliminated, government in general, and the
> military
> in particular, would likely cease to function; in the absence of acronyms,
> how would they ever name a department or program or weapons system?
>
> So, keep those abbreviations coming; they exist for a reason, sometimes
> add
> interest to the lexicon, and in the case of some acronyms can be rather
> humorous. If I encounter an abbreviation I don't know, I shall look it
> up,
> as I would any other word about whose meaning I am unclear.
>
> Sent a few hours into Saturday, in response to a Friday topic.
>
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