unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
So did I...wasn't it easy!
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Abbreviations, Initials and Acronyms
- Thread starter WED Purist
- Start date
So did I...wasn't it easy!
EpcoTim
Well-Known Member
Thats not exactly a2a.
When watching, listening or reading about baseball you never see RBI or ERA spelled out. Occasionally you hear the announcers speak it. But look at baseball cards, the on-screen stat windows, ESPN magazine, gameday programs-they all use the term RBI, ERA, heck, Major League Baseball even calls itself MLB. I grew up on baseball and as a young kid I knew what those things referred too, in essence MLB itself pushed the usage.
Disney doesn't do that. You never see any rides named BTM on any signs or Disney printed materials. Disney doesn't refer to its guests as DDGs. Sure, they have the DVC and EPCOT used to stand for something, but for the most part the rides aren't referred too in text messaging shorthand on any (public consumption) official Disney printed materials.
Captain Chaos
Well-Known Member
Don't worry, I had to as well when someone first used it in a text to me...
No, but in baseball-related discussions those terms would be used widely. Or in any MLB-related forums along the lines of this one.
And the discussion wasn't about the use of acronyms by Disney, but rather their use on this site and forums.
Every group has abbreviations and jargon that is unintelligible to a newcomer, but becomes second nature once you spend time within a group. And there are always people who feel that it is some sort of conspiracy to make them feel like outsiders.
I could write M4+/M4-/M4X/M4X+ here and most of you here would not understand me, but on other websites I frequent everyone would know exactly what they stand for, what the difference is between the four abbreviations, and the significance of that difference. But at one time I was an "outsider" and had to learn them.
It isn't a way to feel superior, just a way to communicate without having to write everything out. And exposure will make abbreviations used within specific groups more familiar, as long as you take a second to either ask or look them up.
I also was unfamiliar with SMH, but now that I took a few seconds to look it up, I'll remember it next time I see it. Which is how I add to my online vocabulary.
I could write M4+/M4-/M4X/M4X+ here and most of you here would not understand me, but on other websites I frequent everyone would know exactly what they stand for, what the difference is between the four abbreviations, and the significance of that difference. But at one time I was an "outsider" and had to learn them.
It isn't a way to feel superior, just a way to communicate without having to write everything out. And exposure will make abbreviations used within specific groups more familiar, as long as you take a second to either ask or look them up.
I also was unfamiliar with SMH, but now that I took a few seconds to look it up, I'll remember it next time I see it. Which is how I add to my online vocabulary.
EpcoTim
Well-Known Member
Thats exactly my point. Major League Baseball was using acronyms long before online forums existed. They have been a part of the actual sport for ages and ages. Anyone familiar with the sport is familiar with the terms. Having been a baseball fan for years I can jump into a baseball forum and understand exactly what everyone is talking about.
Disney isn't the same. You could have someone who's gone to Disney 3 or 4 times a year every year for the last 30 years jump on here and have no idea what anyone is talking about because they've never been around the text-messaging shortening of the names before, you have to have forum experience to fully grasp them, not real life experience such as the case with baseball.
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Every group has abbreviations and jargon that is unintelligible to a newcomer, but becomes second nature once you spend time within a group. And there are always people who feel that it is some sort of conspiracy to make them feel like outsiders.
I could write M4+/M4-/M4X/M4X+ here and most of you here would not understand me, but on other websites I frequent everyone would know exactly what they stand for, what the difference is between the four abbreviations, and the significance of that difference. But at one time I was an "outsider" and had to learn them.
It isn't a way to feel superior, just a way to communicate without having to write everything out. And exposure will make abbreviations used within specific groups more familiar, as long as you take a second to either ask or look them up.
I also was unfamiliar with SMH, but now that I took a few seconds to look it up, I'll remember it next time I see it. Which is how I add to my online vocabulary.
Row, row, row your boat....
See...all it takes is a quick Google search...that's what it was made for... and it works! :wave:
Captain Chaos
Well-Known Member
Google, or Bing, is your friend...
After a bit of thought about the irony of me posting about acronyms, I've changed my position. WED, as it is used for the department of the Walt Disney Company, isn't an acronym. The legal name for imagineering was WED. Although WED is an acronym, WED Enterprises is the name of the business. If you work for NASA, you work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. If you work for WED, you work for WED. Now WDI, that's a different matter...
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Dude, relax. Your gripe is with an overabundance of acronyms, which leave posts unintelligable to the uninitiated or casual visitor.
Using a handful of common acronyms oneself doesn't distract from that, no more than having a Coke with a meal should distract from discussing obesity.
We all just loved the irony.
As a rule, I think acros and abbs increase readability when applied to something relating to the subject at hand, and decrease it if not. If I out of the blue mention Thunder here, than that is more legible than if I had opted for BTM. So as a courtesy, one can consider sometimes writing 'Small World', 'Pirates' or 'Studios' instead of IASW, PotC or TPFKAD-MGMS.
Yes it is. The definition does not change because it is a company's name. NASA is an acronym as is WED. Now you are correct about WDI not being an acronym. It is an initialism.
Sanzarelli
New Member
Excuse me sir, but, seeing as the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we put the PC on the QT? 'Cause if it leaks to the VC, he could end up MIA and then we'd all be put on KP.
MKCP 1985
Well-Known Member
The only one that stumps me almost every time is the resort, BWV.
I think "Best Western?" That can't be right. "Bay Waveland?" (sorry, local reference).
Beach? Wilderness? :hammer:
part of my problem is that I think of Boardwalk as one word, not requiring two initials. :lol: Another problem may be that this resort is not as well known as some others.
Sorry for discussing actual abbreviations, initials and/or acronyms in this thread. :lookaroun
Boardwalk Villas, for those still wondering. You know who you are. :drevil:
I think "Best Western?" That can't be right. "Bay Waveland?" (sorry, local reference).
Beach? Wilderness? :hammer:
part of my problem is that I think of Boardwalk as one word, not requiring two initials. :lol: Another problem may be that this resort is not as well known as some others.
Sorry for discussing actual abbreviations, initials and/or acronyms in this thread. :lookaroun
Boardwalk Villas, for those still wondering. You know who you are. :drevil: