Monday, June 26, 2006
Abbrev. (Abbreviations) are a T.T. (terrible thing)...
One may want to save time through their constant use. One may need to make constant usage of them, to cut down on typos made. One may think that such thingies are even "cool" and "in sync with the times" as well...
However, for the use of abbreviated words to be effective and not lead to confusion, one (again) has to make sure that both sides know what the heck one is talking about! Nothing leads to confusion and miscommunication faster than the dreaded "unknown abbreviation that can have, in someone else's eyes, an entirely different meaning"... know what I mean?
No?
Maybe some examples are required here... asap! (As soon as possible!) :)
Like most everyone else, I had narrow a clue as to what *LOL* meant the first time that I was exposed to it! I saw it as some sort of trendy word maybe - another fad - not as an acronym for "laughing out loud" at all!
Others are not so bad - "BRB", "FYI" and the French "TDS" (tout de suite - meaning right away) are not readily mistaken for something else at all. They do not look like words much - lest "BRB" would be an onomatopeia, for some, used by anyone who's feeling cold!? It doesn't work too well - at all really - and so, not even the most imaginative mind could see something else there... Something else that is definitely NOT there either!
The most perplexing abbreviation I ever saw actually came from the muslim world! Yes - don't tell Al Aqsa, Al Qaida or Al... from Letterman's show, now! I am not alone in this anyway - many were those who thought something was not... kosher (?!) with an actual muslim going "PBUH" each time that he'd be quoting from his number one Prophet! It gave the wrong impression in written form and was not at all what some westerners might have thought it was... For "PBUH" means "Peace Be Upon Him"! Hence, each time they say "The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says" - they are not going "duh" or something... at all! (Hmm... but do they have enough of a sense of humor to acknowledge all this, laugh it off, reflect that "PBWH" -peace be WITH him- might have been less prone to confuse outsiders... all this WITHOUT calling for any beheadings whatsoever!? I hope so! If not - I'll blog about the Jihad next!)
T.Y.F.Y.T. (Thank You For Your Time!)
Link
However, for the use of abbreviated words to be effective and not lead to confusion, one (again) has to make sure that both sides know what the heck one is talking about! Nothing leads to confusion and miscommunication faster than the dreaded "unknown abbreviation that can have, in someone else's eyes, an entirely different meaning"... know what I mean?
No?
Maybe some examples are required here... asap! (As soon as possible!) :)
Like most everyone else, I had narrow a clue as to what *LOL* meant the first time that I was exposed to it! I saw it as some sort of trendy word maybe - another fad - not as an acronym for "laughing out loud" at all!
Others are not so bad - "BRB", "FYI" and the French "TDS" (tout de suite - meaning right away) are not readily mistaken for something else at all. They do not look like words much - lest "BRB" would be an onomatopeia, for some, used by anyone who's feeling cold!? It doesn't work too well - at all really - and so, not even the most imaginative mind could see something else there... Something else that is definitely NOT there either!
The most perplexing abbreviation I ever saw actually came from the muslim world! Yes - don't tell Al Aqsa, Al Qaida or Al... from Letterman's show, now! I am not alone in this anyway - many were those who thought something was not... kosher (?!) with an actual muslim going "PBUH" each time that he'd be quoting from his number one Prophet! It gave the wrong impression in written form and was not at all what some westerners might have thought it was... For "PBUH" means "Peace Be Upon Him"! Hence, each time they say "The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says" - they are not going "duh" or something... at all! (Hmm... but do they have enough of a sense of humor to acknowledge all this, laugh it off, reflect that "PBWH" -peace be WITH him- might have been less prone to confuse outsiders... all this WITHOUT calling for any beheadings whatsoever!? I hope so! If not - I'll blog about the Jihad next!)
T.Y.F.Y.T. (Thank You For Your Time!)
Link
