Has the World Gone Acronym M.A.D (mankind against dysfunctionality)?

By: Jeffrey Hauser
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:29:56
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We now LOL, respond ASAP, BYOB to parties, and watch CSI on TV. My initial reaction (pardon the pun) it that we are becoming too lazy to actually say the entire words. I understand that text messaging is faster that way, but what about the rest of us speaking or writing-type people? Using initials has always been fairly common. After all, who goes around saying the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Columbia Broadcasting System or even the United States of America, anymore? But the corporate or governmental world is one thing, the arena of common language is another. I recognize that Webster has many abbreviations listed as acceptable substitutes. Some of the more obvious ones are tv, reps, ads, execs, promos, abs, fax, web, vet, and gov. That’s right, these are the shortened form of actually words, for those who don’t realize that “fax” is really a “facsimile.”

The problem with people who tend to write in acronyms is that they still have to communicate. Many of the younger folk think everyone knows what the initials stand for. So, when they post an ad on Craig’s List, they assume that we would know what SWF4M, for LTR with DINK. This is an actual listing. Depending on your age and situation, you may or may not know what this means. Try “I’m a single-white female looking for a man for a long term relationship that could lead to a dual income with no kids.” Wasn’t that EZ?

But it gets even better with text messaging. Take a crack at this: WRUD. PRW. LYLAS. OTTOMH, PMFJI, ROTFLUTS, GL/HF. You better know these because they are going to be the staple phrases of the next generation. You can check them out on the net, but I’ll translate one for you to get started. ROTFLUTS is “rolling on the floor laughing and unable to speak.” Get it?

Saying bye instead of good-bye is a no-brainer. Using the $ sign for money, ditto. Even tossing in a smiley face can be cute. But TLK2UL8R is ridiculous. It’s almost as long as the actual phrase, talk-to-you-later. Where’s the short cut there? Or THNX, THNQ, PLZ, or CUL8R? Using YR for “your,” 4 as “for,”Y for “why,” and 2 for “to” is pretty routine. But where does it end? Will the next generation forget the real words entirely? Think of the new television shows. NCIS, CSI-NY, 30 Rock. We watch the NBA, NFL. or MLB on FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, or ESPN. Of course there’s QVC or HSN for buying stuff. We used to watch the “Man from U.N.C. L.E.” the “United Network Command for Law Enforcement.” But that was a spoof on James Bond and spy movies.

And when it comes to movies, well, there is continues. The Men in Black sequel was simply “MBII.” Now most sequels just use initials. “AI” stood for Artificial Intelligence. Maybe it’s cheaper for printing on posters. Who knew? We also use acronyms for phone numbers, driving most of us nuts. Just dial 800-Shopnow or 866-Sheraton. It’s supposed to help us remember the number but is a pain to figure out. Even the URL’s for domain names are becoming an issue. Besides using initials like USPS for the United States Postal Service on their site, there is dot com, gov, biz, org, net, edu, mil (military), int, info and us. Add to that another group of countries, like uk, au, fr, ru and so forth and where does it end? Try coop, aero, pro, cat, jobs, mail, post, tel, and xxx. Guess what that last one was for?

I know I’m probably one of the lone voices of reason, but I enjoying reading and researching on the web. I’m just afraid that one day I’ll wake up and think I’m in a foreign land because I won’t be able to understand anything. I’ll need a translator to get through my email, classified ads, or read a text message. And as it spreads into my every day life, it could become very disconcerting. But I’ll continue to do my part by writing articles without short cuts or acronyms and hope you will do the same. So that’s all for now (TAFN) and good luck and good reading (GLGR).

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