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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| 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. Word count: 246 |
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We don't use it a lot, but once in a while we do. I'd like to print off all the genealogy information I have for our family tree. There's just something about seeing it on paper that makes it more exciting. Once in a while I print off a recipe. 
When you have to write a professional essay citing the APA using APA style, it gets rapidly absurd. I thought major organizations sharing the same acronym was like, illegal. Sheesh 
