Abbreviations or acronyms that irritate you

I'm a scientist and I have to deal with jargon all the time. I sometimes think that scientists come up with abbreviations just to make themselves look smarter, and to exclude people who don't know the jargon yet.

Anyway, some of it pisses me off. Not just in science, but elsewhere too.

We have our own jargon in the shaving world, of course. I constantly think that while some of it makes communication simpler, a lot of it is unnecessary.

So, what abbreviations/acronyms irritate you? It doesn't have to be shaving-related (which is why this thread is here in the Complaint Dept.).

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One that irritates me is 'croap' - a combination of shaving cream and shaving soap.

Every time I read it in a post, I first read it as 'crap'. I mean, how hard is it to say 'soft soap'?

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Your turn -

SWMBO - it is easier to just type wife

Croap certainly bothers me too, for some reason. But I kind of like SWMBO for its tongue in cheek humor. I think the one that irritates me most these days is LOL - and nearly all smilies.

(06-22-2012, 09:22 AM)churchilllafemme Wrote: Croap certainly bothers me too, for some reason. But I kind of like SWMBO for its tongue in cheek humor. I think the one that irritates me most these days is LOL - and nearly all smilies.

Ouch! You must hate my posts, John!

Interestingly, 'She who must be obeyed' was first used in literature in a book by H. Rider Haggard called 'She'. It is one of those cool adventure stories that I liked when I was a kid. I still read Rider Haggard - fun stories.

Of course, it started being used as a term for 'wife' in the Rumpole books. They're also a lot of fun.

To paraphrase Shakespeare:

"First, kill all the emoticons" (uh oh, just noticed a bunch of emoticons to the left of this writing pane. they seem angry).

Do they count as acronyms?

To be more specific, I don't mind them on forums like this, but when I see them in my business correspondence, it feels wrong.

Yohann, print this list without the descriptions and give it to your high tech friends.

Abbreviations & Acronyms

CONUS only.

For obvious reasons. Ha-ha.

SHMBO has lost what little humor there was for me years ago. A couple I don't see here, but are related, that I really can't stand, is DD and DS (darling daughter, darling son)

Overuse of emoticons, particularly the large, animated ones, like this:
For some reason, however, I do like that cute little badger:

Croap is mildly annoying.

Another one is IMHO - By using this you imply that you have a dishonest opinion as well, and if you don't use IMHO prior to stating your opinion, then I can assume that the opinion contained therein is not honest, right?

Finally, while not an abbreviation or acronym, a peeve of mine is the incorrect phrase of "I could care less". You have not told us anything except that you do not care the least amount possible. That could mean that you care a little bit or that you care deeply. The correct phrase is "I couldn't care less", which means you are at the lowest possible level of caring.

Ok, one more....the phrase, "It's all good". No, it's not all good. Murder, disease, car accidents, famine, racism...none of that is good, so it can't ALL be good.

There really aren't any shaving abbreviations that annoy me that I can think of right of the top of my head.

R, U etc instead of simple 3 letter words annoy me.

Y2K3, 2K12, etc. They's just as long as the freaking number!

YOLO is starting to annoy me due to overuse, and the fact that there's rarely a reason to abbreviate an entire sentence.

We just won't start on apostrophes used to pluralize. Because they aren't abbreviations or acronyms. *deep calming breath*

yohannrjm Wrote:One that irritates me is 'croap' - a combination of shaving cream and shaving soap.

Every time I read it in a post, I first read it as 'crap'. I mean, how hard is it to say 'soft soap'?

One of the things that really annoys me is when people call a portmanteau an abbreviation. :monoloco:

(Okay, just kidding )

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(06-22-2012, 11:17 AM)5Savages Wrote: For some reason, however, I do like that cute little badger:

I like that icon, but it frequently gets the song stuck in my head, which is bad.

Quote:Another one is IMHO - By using this you imply that you have a dishonest opinion as well, and if you don't use IMHO prior to stating your opinion, then I can assume that the opinion contained therein is not honest, right?

I believe that H is supposed to be "humble." As in "this is just my opinion, I do not claim to be an expert."

(06-22-2012, 11:21 AM)Songwind Wrote: YOLO is starting to annoy me due to overuse, and the fact that there's rarely a reason to abbreviate an entire sentence.

YES!! My daughter says that all the time about the most inane things.

Quote:

(06-22-2012, 11:17 AM)5Savages Wrote: For some reason, however, I do like that cute little badger:

I like that icon, but it frequently gets the song stuck in my head, which is bad.

What song is that (somewhat afraid to ask)?

Quote:

Quote:Another one is IMHO - By using this you imply that you have a dishonest opinion as well, and if you don't use IMHO prior to stating your opinion, then I can assume that the opinion contained therein is not honest, right?

I believe that H is supposed to be "humble." As in "this is just my opinion, I do not claim to be an expert."

Now that you mention it, I've read it interpreted both ways, honest and humble, so I'll withdraw that objection.

Ok, as long as I'm here, one more...saying that you, or anyone else, is giving any amount of effort greater than 100%. You canNOT give 110% effort. It's impossible, by definition.

(06-22-2012, 11:32 AM)5Savages Wrote:

Quote:

(06-22-2012, 11:17 AM)5Savages Wrote: For some reason, however, I do like that cute little badger:

I like that icon, but it frequently gets the song stuck in my head, which is bad.

What song is that (somewhat afraid to ask)?

I'm assuming that the song in question is known as "Badger, badger, badger":

It WILL get stuck in your brain. Sorry 'bout that.

(06-22-2012, 11:32 AM)5Savages Wrote: Ok, as long as I'm here, one more...saying that you, or anyone else, is giving any amount of effort greater than 100%. You canNOT give 110% effort. It's impossible, by definition.

As a former engineer, I am capable of setting a basis for *anything*. If I set Maximum Expected Effort at 80% of theoretical maximum possible effort, then I can not only give 110%, I can give 125%

(06-22-2012, 10:33 AM)offshoot Wrote: CONUS only.

For obvious reasons. Ha-ha.

I wholeheartedly agree with this!

(06-22-2012, 11:52 AM)Songwind Wrote:

(06-22-2012, 11:32 AM)5Savages Wrote: Ok, as long as I'm here, one more...saying that you, or anyone else, is giving any amount of effort greater than 100%. You canNOT give 110% effort. It's impossible, by definition.

As a former engineer, I am capable of setting a basis for *anything*. If I set Maximum Expected Effort at 80% of theoretical maximum possible effort, then I can not only give 110%, I can give 125%

Hence why jet engines can be rated for more than 100% RPM and rocket engines for more than 100% trust...

Relevant XKCD cartoon:


To bring this thread back on topic; I'm military and used to be a certified aircraft technician (mechanical systems, hydraulics, pneumatics, CSDs, ADGs, ECS, EPUs, cryogenic oxygen systems, wheels and brakes). I'm so used to TLAs and ETLAs I seldom even notice them being used.

(06-22-2012, 11:52 AM)Songwind Wrote: As a former engineer, I am capable of setting a basis for *anything*. If I set Maximum Expected Effort at 80% of theoretical maximum possible effort, then I can not only give 110%, I can give 125%

Which is only 100% of theoretical maximum possible effort.

(06-22-2012, 12:20 PM)WegianWarrior Wrote: Hence why jet engines can be rated for more than 100% RPM and rocket engines for more than 100% trust...

They can rate them for whatever they want, but they can never spin faster than they can spin, or thrust more than they can thrust.

(06-22-2012, 12:20 PM)WegianWarrior Wrote: To bring this thread back on topic; I'm military and used to be a certified aircraft technician (mechanical systems, hydraulics, pneumatics, CSDs, ADGs, ECS, EPUs, cryogenic oxygen systems, wheels and brakes). I'm so used to TLAs and ETLAs I seldom even notice them being used.

It's a similar thing in IT. Every now and then one of us will have a moment when we realize exactly how much jargon and TLA is being tossed around and have to put the brakes on.

My favorite has been, "I'm sorry, I have to do these ROI figures ASAP, so I don't have the bandwidth to interface with you on that paradigm shift today."

LOL is now so over-used here that I almost don't see it anymore. It is still irritating.

ST8 is one that I find really annoying.

(06-22-2012, 08:50 AM)yohannrjm Wrote: I'm a scientist ...

Which species?