BS: New trend in abbreviations?

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bernard
Date: 23 Dec 06 - 05:07 PM

Erm... ys, Bl...!!

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Scrump
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 05:30 PM

It annoys me in the UK when I see road signs with abbreviated place names, for no obvious reason.

For instance - one of the most extreme examples I can think of - on the M6 there are signs M'cr for Manchester. There is enough room to get the full word on the signs, so I can't see any good reason for it.

I can only assume the signmakers were paid by the letter or something. OK, they might have to pay more for the full word, but they only have to pay for it once - these signs last for decades.

Anyone have any other examples of this annoying singwriting laziness?

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 06:23 PM

Jeffp mentioned the thought that


And not all abbreviations have always been capitalized. The old state abbreviations, for example. Minn., Md., Penn., etc. And etc. for example.

There's a misconception which is widespread.

MN, MD, PA, et al., are not abbreviations. They are postal codes. On the contrary, Minn., Md., and Penn. are abbreviations, and still proper, though most of us don't use them any more because of the popular confusion with the postal codes under the ZIP.

Note that ZIP (not Zip or zip) is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan.   The idea of the ZIP was to move the Postal Service down the field toward computerization.

Because MN, MD, PA, et al. are not abbreviations, it's not necessary to put a comma in the line on your envelope where you consign your letter of Philadelphia PA or Minneapolis MN.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 06:26 PM

Uncle Dave...you realize there are penalties for injecting reason and clarity into a silly debate!

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bernard
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 07:22 AM

Yes, Scrump... I think "W'gton" for "Warrington" is dwnrt stpd!

And they are too easy to misread as "Wigan" in poor light/visibility!! Pity help someone who doesn;t know the area...

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Scrump
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 10:50 AM

Aye Bernard. But at least they've got the signs for t'Pier, to make it easier to find Wiggin.

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Homeless
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 11:56 AM

"new trend in the way two letter abbreviations such as PC ... are appearing"
"So... does anyone know the reason, other than journalists' laziness, why this is becoming the norm?"
"I do know that such abbreviations originated in emails and bulletin boards, but that was in the days of very slow dial-up modems."

Having been working with computers since the days of 300 baud modems, I can tell you that the short cuts weren't due only to modem speed. Frequently, people who had never worked with a typewriter had a hard time finding letters on the keyboard, and would often use shortcuts so as to type less. Those of us who could type, when involved in real time chats (meaning both parties saw each keystroke come up as it was typed) sometimes used shorthand to make the conversation go quicker. Most people can read much quicker than even the fastest typers can type.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the kids graduating college now have always had computers. The big home computer boom was roughly 20 years ago. So your new journalists have been using computer shorthand literally all their lives. They don't know any different. I have a friend who is an English teacher, who once related a story about how she was trying to explain to a student why "LOL" was not acceptable in a composition. All their lives they've been immersed in digital shorthand.

Finally, regarding signs/press- I was taught in high school that rules of grammar were broken as a cost saving measure. At the time, we were learning about capitalization in article titles. We were told that headlines *should* be capitalized, but were not because capital letters used more ink than lower case, thus reducing the cost. The same would hold true for abbreviations/acronyms.
Signs are the same. While any given sign probably doesn't save much, when you have to print hundreds of signs, small costs add up.

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Scrump
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 12:28 PM

how ignrnt da kids of 2day R LOL

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Schantieman
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 04:07 PM

And then there was the PR (!) employee at the BBC who managed to change his job title to "Engineering & Intelligence Education & Information Officer" just so that he could announce the initialised version of it when he answered the 'phone.

Elderly fellow, name of McDonald, I think.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bernard
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:04 PM

Did he have a farm, by any chance?

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bernard
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:19 PM

Ummmm... Homeless...

"new trend in the way two letter abbreviations such as PC ... are appearing"
"So... does anyone know the reason, other than journalists' laziness, why this is becoming the norm?"
"I do know that such abbreviations originated in emails and bulletin boards, but that was in the days of very slow dial-up modems."

The last quote is out of context, and had little or nothing to do with the original query, which was basically...

Why Pc instead of P.C.?

IN OTHER WORDS, WHY IS THE SECOND LETTER LOWER CASE?!!! For that matter, where did the full stops (periods) go?

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Bernard
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:21 PM

Naah, I'm not being tetchy, just having a larf...!

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 06:37 PM

I always thought that ZIP was Zone Improvement Program ??( not plan) ?
Anyway----my father worked,as a civilian radio operator,for many years at RAF Bampton ( yes,Morris-dance Bampton ) where a lot of the work / traffic involved the Met.Office. He always referred to the weather,in writing,as 'WX', and also,of course ,to Transmit & Receive as 'TX' & 'RX'. In the mid-sixties, they started to send paper images of weather maps ,using special machines & heat-sensitive paper. These were originally called " Facsimile " machines,which was soon shortened to 'FAX'---in case you ever wondered where 'FAX'came from !!!

Subject: RE: BS: New trend in abbreviations?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 06:40 PM

It's the abbreviations on this site that I struggle with. I feel such a fool when I have to ask!

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Thread closed temporarily because it's been a target for a heavy barrage of Spam. If you have something to add to the discussion, contact me and I'll reopen it.
-Joe Offer-