Hahaha...too funny, I have never met anyone who was on a crusade against
acronyms.
This is a game where people communicate in real-time and many of us do not
type 80 words per minute. If someone uses the acronym "RTS" instead of
typing out "Runed Totem Staff" I really think they should be forgiven.
After all, if you don't know what RTS is all you have to do is ask someone
once.
The only double-meaning acronym in the game I know of is "BB" - one for
Butcherblock and one for Blackburrow, but you generally do not get confused
because usage is mostly in context.
Oh well...I shouldn't have been lured off topic but I could not resist being
stupefied by this rant, which has come up before much to my disbelief.
Faras Tar'Linedhel
E'ci
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Stewart [mailto:dreambard@...]
> Sent: Friday, July 23, 1999 9:05 AM
> To: eqbards@onelist.com
> Subject: re: [eqbards] Secret Code
>
>
> From: Bob Stewart <dreambard@...>
>
> At 09:30 AM 7/23/99 -0400, chlebek@... wrote:
> >Ah! You just need the secret decoder ring. Here ya go:
>
> Sorry, wrong answer. Doesn't scale. Barely works at all.
> Using acronyms
> that aren't widely known is inconsiderate of those with whom you are
> supposedly trying to communicate. Pointing people to an
> immense list of
> definitions is simply a way of saying you can't be bothered
> to type out
> words that would be relatively sufficient.
>
> Overuse of acronyms was one of the problems that made IBM
> systems difficult
> and limited their use to the priesthood. More considerate computer
> companies moved away from secret code.
>
> Acronyms are the rudest form of slang and jargon. They are
> even worse than
> obscure words like "proc" because they aren't even pronouncable words.
> Acronyms are effectively a way to invent new words on the
> fly, then use
> them and berate the reader for not knowing what they mean.
>
> I'll warn you now that I've been fighting this battle in the computer
> industry for 30 years, with some success. People either get
> the point and
> behave less rudely or miss the point and continue to speak in
> secret code,
> either not understanding or simply not caring whether they're
> communicating
> with the majority of their audience. If you don't mind if
> the majority of
> the readers simply don't know what you meant and probably
> won't bother to
> find out, use them, but don't kid yourself.
>
> Bob
>
>
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