Tag Archives: acronyms

A Little Acrimony Over Acronyms

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Acronyms stink! Yes, they’re necessary at times, but the reliance on them also handcuffs communicators and certainly baffles readers.

I’m sure our friends at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (yes, IPFW is better in most cases) won’t take it personally when we use this recent example from their campus. In fact, the communicators in Fort Wayne do an excellent job overall with their "key info" section at the top of news releases particularly helpful.

But then there was this headline and lead:

IPFW ORES Becomes RESP to Respond to Community Engagement

Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne’s (IPFW’s) Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) is pleased to announce the Office of Research and External Support (ORES) is now the Office of Research, Engagement, and Sponsored Programs (RESP).

Do I have a better alternative? Not off the top of my head. There’s not much one can do when confronted with a series of phrases/names that require the obligatory capital letter shortcuts. The above is an eyeful and mouthful with or without the acronyms, but I’ll still blame them for making a tough message to communicate even more difficult. 

More Words, Not Less, Preferred by Some

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How many of you knew that SCUBA stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus? Maybe that one was too easy. How about the fact that a gentleman named David Davis coined the term acronym (such as SCUBA) in 1943?

If it had stopped there, we might have little to complain about. But more and more acronyms have resulted in more and more confusion. A combination of various letters today could mean one of several things — and boy are there difficulties if one misinterprets.

A Ragan Communications column tackled some of the acronym absurdity. A few excerpts:

IRA could be something you put money into for retirement, or it could be a group of rowdy Irish revolutionaries. IOU stands for ‘I owe you,’ so in actuality it should be IOY. IEEE could stand for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or it could be the sound a hyena makes.

See how confusing it can be? And really, if there’s any truth to evolution, shouldn’t we be getting better at communicating more effectively? Instead, this generation is adding to the problem with texting acronyms. Thankfully we have a 14-year-old son to help us navigate our way through the labyrinth of LOLs, TTFNs and BCs or I fear we’d be TL (totally lost).

I feel like each year I understand less and less, setting me up to make disastrous mistakes in communicating to the younger set. And I know I’m not alone.

My sister Peg is in the same boat. She is a high school English teacher in Ohio and she’s one of the coolest people I know. So when she was talking to her class about some surprise and told them to “keep it on the LD” she wondered why they all started laughing. “Mrs. G—,” a student said, “I think what you’re trying to say is ‘keep it on the DL—down low.’”

Another teacher came to Peg wondering why students were sprinkling “101” in various places throughout their written work. It took them a while to figure out that students were actually interjecting “LOL,” which stands for laugh out loud.

If this is happening to people my age, I can only imagine what happens to our parents’ generation. One person shared that her aunt thinks that the aforementioned LOL means “lots of love,” so she’s been sending notes, cards and messages that are wildly inappropriate, unbeknownst to her. Think of the disastrous results that can occur from not knowing that LOL means “laugh out loud.”

  • “It’s your birthday. You don’t look a day over 40! LOL!”

  • “So sorry to hear of your loss. LOL.”

  • “Happy anniversary. I don’t know a couple that seems better made for each other. LOL!”

  • “Your baby is adorable. LOL!”   

So let’s KISS (keep it simple, Sherlock) and stop with the acronyms already. Say what you mean, even if it takes a few more seconds out of your day. It’s not like we’re in such a hurry that we don’t have time to complete our sentences with good old-fashioned words. Besides, it’s the LYCD (least you can do).