I spent my entire career in the burbs of DC, and even in the commercial world you could not escape the government/military acronyms. It is tiresome.
Yep. One of my first jobs was at an Air Force Credit Union. It served the people on the base, but was not part of the military. Officers would walk up to my window and say things like, "I'm going TDY and I need some T-checks ASAP," and I would gawp at them like the young bimbo I was. Now with text messaging it's getting worse all the time.
Of course, in nursing school, as with all things medical, acronyms are a part of our education. Then, when I went into the Air Force, we were inundated with them, and they were SOP. Fast-forward to the high-tech age, and everything seems to be an acronym. I give up.
I do, too, most particularly when I don't know what they stand for. As a web directory editor, I am especially annoyed with the organizations and businesses that have adopted the acronym as their legal name, now having a name that is simply a jumble of letters meaning nothing. I do understand it though, given that an acronym is a handy shortcut for people who have to give the name repeatedly. While not exactly an acronym, since it wasn't pronounced as though it were a word, when I was hired as a program chairman for Texas State Technical College, we were required to answer the phone using the full name rather than using the shorter TSTC, which we all knew it was going to be known by anyhow. The institution had just upgraded from Texas State Technical Institute to become a college, so they wanted that branding to sink in, I suppose. Anyhow, I got caught a couple of times answering phone calls from the Dean or the Assistant Dean with "TSTC EMT Department, may I help you?" when I was supposed to say, "Texas State Technical College, Emergency Medical Technician Department, may I help you?"
As long as the first use of the acronym defines it, like so: NorthEastern Ohio University (NEOU), I'm fine with it. Using the acronym thereafter saves space. But I hate when someone uses an acronym and I gotta search to figure out what it means. Regarding the social stuff (BRB, TY, YW, STFU), it depresses me to see things go downhill like this. It's intentional. It's orchestrated.
Such is life in the age of messaging/texting. People who type "u" instead of "you"... what do they do with all the time they save? I worked in the chemical industry for nearly 30 years; it is second to none in acronym hell... every unit, department, title, etc. WTF?? Also a breeding ground for hackneyed expressions such as "think outside the box," "bring it to the table," "take it offline," etc.
I can go the rest of my life without "reaching out" or "reaching back." I prefer to "go talk to..." or "call him." And don't ask me to "take it to the next level." I'm not a freakin' elevator operator...nor am I a carpenter.
I can relate, Ken though I didn't have the guts to actually do it. MVRPC (Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission) or (MVCDC) Miami Valley Child Development Center. Would have been much easier to say the acronym and catchy too.
You crack me up, Beth. Maybe they use the time they saved by not typing out "you" to say "reach out" "share with" or "have a conversation with" rather than "talk to." Talk must be the new, unspeakable four letter word.
I prefer answering Office of Student Affairs; Would you like one? Sometimes I did not know the meaning of the letters of something and would look them up. Apparently there are a lot of organizations etc using the same abbreviations so you get a list of choices on google.