The problem with acronyms
September 19, 2007
One of our neighbors has a multitude of bumper-stickers on her truck for Randolph-Macon Women’s College which — on July 1 of this year — went co-ed and changed it’s name to “Randolph College.” I have no opinion on the matter.
I do have an opinion on one of my neighbor’s bumper-stickers, however, which reads “Keep R-M a WC.” A “WC” is more commonly known as a “Water Closet” or flush toilet.
That’s along the same lines as our own local “ Wilderness Trail Festival,” whose web pages have titles like “WTF Entertainment,” “WTF Become a Volunteer,” and “WTF About the Festival.”
You really have to watch those acronyms.
Posted in Speaking Very Slowly
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September 19th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I’m not sure if this is true, but supposedly when Mary Washington College was thinking up a new name, one contender was Fredericksburg University. Elf and I could be proud alumnae of FU.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Sometimes, it’s not even the fault of the people creating the abbreviations. For the Washington Telephone Federal Credit Union, net-jargon pounced when they weren’t looking.
http://flickr.com/photos/ardvaark/904794771/
Also - and not to pick nits or anything - but the examples you gave are not acronyms, they’re abbreviations. If you can’t pronounce it as a word, it’s not an acronym.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Uh, Missie, I think “FU” kind of describes the MWC name switch. Sort of a friendly slap in the face to former attendees. My favorite abbreviations websites?
http://www.omfg.org/ and http://www.omfg.com/
Sorry, I need to learn how to do the linky thing still. I still have my posting training wheels. Just cut and paste. Favorite bumper sticker? WTFWJD?
September 19th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Oohh…it did it automatically. Thud is WAY cooler than me! ARRRRRRRRR!! The Thudfactor blog be the best blog on the seven seas! (In appreciation of “International Talk Like a Pirate Day”.)
September 19th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
“Erm, I think we’re losing sight of the real issue here, which is ‘What are we gonna call ourselves?’ Erm, and I think it comes down to a choice between ‘The League Against Salivating Monsters’ or my own personal preference, which is ‘The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society’. Erm, one drawback with that - the abbreviation is ‘CLITORIS’.” - Rimmer, Red Dwarf, “Polymorph”
September 20th, 2007 at 2:41 am
So, let me make sure I get this straight — Fred’s last example would be an example of an acronym. Right?
September 20th, 2007 at 3:10 am
Are people really in such a hurry that they cannot use full words? While I find them both annoying, acronyms and abbreviations, (except, of course, for the Special Executor for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion), what I really have a hard time with are the institutional changes, when organizations basically drop their words for their letters. International Business Machine certainly has a better ring to it then, um, IBM. Kentucky Fried Chicken is a cute name (well, cute and a little gross), while KFC sounds like a chemical compound.
And another funny Washington one, back when their nuclear power plans collapsed in failure, the organization in charge was Washington Public Power Supply System, was shortened to WPPSS, pronounced “Whoops”.
I can’t help but wonder what the point is? Do they think it sounds cute? Do they think that people cannot remember whole words?
September 20th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I attend First Unitarian Church in Louisville. We have a small contingent who think it would be fun if we officially renamed ourselves First Unitarian Church of Kentucky…
September 20th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Yes, CLITORIS would be an acronym.
I am resisting the urge to attempt to be funny.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:01 am
An acronym is “a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words.” CLITORIS qualifies.
I wonder at the traffic the sheer repetition of that word might generate for you…
Here’s another (perfectly SFW) example…
September 21st, 2007 at 9:08 pm
HA! WTF. That’s awesome.
September 21st, 2007 at 10:22 pm
I’ve seen the WTF Entertainment bumper sticker here in Olympia and I wondered WTF it was all about. Thank you for clearing that up!
September 24th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Think WTF is bad? Try living in Seattle.