I was recently part of
a discussion in which, for the most part, I had no clue what was
being said. Now for me, that might not be that unusual and there will be some who will agree. But in this
particular situation, I was somewhat, or I thought I was, familiar
with the topic and the subject matter. But the person leading the
discussion used so many abbreviations and shortened terms in his
presentation it was difficult to follow and understand. In his speech
he had forgotten one very important thing, his audience. Many in
the room, including myself, needed a dictionary of terms and
abbreviations to understand what he was trying to tell us. We were
not familiar with all the acronyms, abbreviations and shortcuts.
Several months ago,
with a new cell phone in hand, I ventured into the world of texting
and sending messages via my phone and I wrote a blog about the 'new'
language and the spelling of words that was quickly taking over the
world. One year later, I still often have difficulty understanding
some of the messages sent to me, but I'm catching on thanks to an
understanding granddaughter.
Acronyms are a bit
different than many of the texting shortcuts and have been used a
long time, or so I am told.
According to Wikipedia,
and who would ever doubt Wikipedia, an acronym “is an abbreviation formed
from the initial components of a word or phrase.” OMG! The
definition goes on to say that while abbreviations for words and
phrases have been used for many years, the 20th century
has seen a dramatic rise in their use as we look to find ways to
shorten our speech and writing. But does it shorten our
understanding?
So let me send you a
brief memo..............
To all
staff,
The ETS and
the HO will be conducting a TBA over the next several months.
SV's, AC's and AA's will be assigned a specific ICT during this time.
On the forms provide to you, be sure to include your MOB and your
HOTs that you generally perform each day.
After you have
completed your individual TBA, be sure to E-File the results on the
appropriate AIF immediately to your SV.
Thank you for your
cooperation, understanding and participation in this very important
job assignment study.
FM
Out
of the context from the business or industry from which these
acronyms came, you might have no idea what was taking place or what
an employee was being asked to do. Even if you work within this group
you still might not know.
I
was not surprised to recently learn that in many organizations new
employees are given, in addition to all the other paperwork the fill
out a sign, a copy of the “The Company Guide to Abbreviations ”
in order to help and assist in learning to understand the business
language, terms and jargon. And how do I know this? I was given one of those guides at my recent orientation.
Abbreviation
and acronyms have been around for many years. Some are quite funny.
For
example....AAAAA (see blog title) is the American Association Against Acronym Abuse.
If you happen to see AATO
, know that Acronyms Are Taking Over. If you thought that ABC was a
television channel, you might be partially correct. ABC......A Boring
Channel. Everyone knows about FAQ's, And maybe with April 1 just around the corner, you may want
to think about pulling off an AFJ, April Fool's Joke.
As
the world continues to change, as we move forward toward a total
butchering of language and communication, I envision a society where
we do very little speaking or writing in full or complete sentences
or thoughts, where correct spelling was something taught by Mrs.
Graham back in the second grade, rest her soul, and junior high
English, where we learned that a sentence must have a subject and
verb. What's a subject and verb anyway? Are these just a distant memory of
a missed ALO (a learning opportunity).
I
have come to the conclusion there is a transition taking place. With
the increasing use of texting, once easy and understandable
abbreviations such as IBM or AT&T are being replaced with a new
language and unless someone publishes the 'U.S. Guide to
Abbreviations for the Common Citizen,' we may never truly understand
what each other is trying to say.... to each other. (Poor subject-verb
agreement there.)
And
about that FAQ? We all know that is an acronym for 'frequently asked
questions.' So my most frequently asked question is quickly
becoming....”What did the memo just say? Did I forgot to submit my
QCB on time! What's a QCB?”I guess over time I'll start to figure all this out. UNT........be safe!
Full and fair disclosure... The memo included in the blog was not a real memo. The acronyms are, however.
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