Toe in the Water

Acronyms

Acronyms

America did not invent the acronym but it has brought the art to a fever pitch. Everything, it seems, must have an acronym and just about everything does. Scattering acronyms through your writing and speech has become so prevalent that it becomes too much of a good thing. Rather like baskets in basketball, in fact.

The whole idea of acronyms was to shorten the business of writing or speaking of something. Which is fine as long as the abbreviation is understood by everyone. But the proliferation of the little blighters has reached the point when only the smug in people understand what is being referred to. It’s a waste of time and effort when every time you use an acronym, you have to explain what it means. The value of the thing is destroyed and it becomes merely a way to demonstrate your superior trendiness than a genuine attempt to communicate.

Back in my day, acronyms were only used after they had been explained first. So, if you wanted to refer to the USA, the first time you mentioned it you would write it in full with the acronym in brackets, then subsequent references could use the abbreviation with impunity. It’s a good system and avoids abuse by snobs.

So that’s my thinking on the matter. If you really want to communicate and not merely show off, explain the acronym first. Otherwise I, for one, won’t even bother to ask. I’ll just move on to something else.

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