I can't stand the abbreviations

sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Eeyore said:
I'm with those of you who can't stand the use of DD, DS, DW, DH. I don't know why but it has always bothered me.
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As I mentioned, I don't have a problem with abbreviating up to a point, but part of the reason that really bugs me is because it falls on the other side of the line where I find it to be extreme and unnecessary. Or, I guess another way for me to put it is that I see a fine line between abbreviating and "text speak". Calling Walt Disney World, "WDW" or using "USA" in place of United States of America, is abbreviating and is fine. Typing "where r u and y are u not here" is "text talk" and is lazy and uncalled for. To me, saying "DS" instead of "my son" is too close to text talk.

I think the other reason it bugs me so much is because we're talking about a human being here and it just seems so impersonal or something. Kind of like at work when the manager says "I need more bodies to help on this side of the store". It bugs me to hear them refer to human beings as "bodies" rather than "people". Maybe that's part of the reason why I hate this "DS", "DW", etc, stuff because it's just too impersonal. Plus, again, IMO, it's just lazy, unnecessary, and too similar to text talk.

Like I said, I'm kind of middle of the road on the abbreviations. I don't shun it altogether, but I excercise some discretion as to when and what I abbreviate. I don't abbreviate Splash Mountain or Space Mountain, since they have the same abbreviation. I don't abbreviate Small World, since it's easy enough to type. Other things, which have long names, I may simply choose to type one word, such as "Monsters Inc" vs "MILF". However, I may very well us "TOT" instead of typing out Tower of Terror. Or, as I said earlier, I may type the word out the first time in a post, then abbreviate it thereafter. And I also take note of the original poster's post count, if I'm answering a question. If I see he's a total newbie, then I'm not gonna use all the abbreviations, as i will assume he doesn't know what the heck I'm talking about. But if, hypothetically, say, MontyMon opens a thread and I reply to what he wrote, I will know that he understands all the abbreviations, so I can feel free to abbreviate if I choose to.
 
K

Krack

Active Member
When it comes to the abbreviations, I'm sympathetic to the newbies and/or computer illiterates. For example, my parents could never use this forum for more than 5 minutes without getting frustrated and never coming back (mostly because of the abbreviations).

I think the key is to use them in moderation and with some common sense. Some of the abbreviations are so obvious and so natural that using them requires very little effort on the part of the reader - WDW, PotC, DHS, TTA, HISTA, IASW, JIYI. On the other hand, some abbreviations (particularly two letter abbreviations) could mean almost anything and are basically useless. For example, on that Acronym guide, it has "CB" listed as "Character Breakfast" and "CBJ" listed as "The Country Bear Jamboree" - call me newb, but I've been going to WDW for 35 years and if I saw someone type "CB", my first assumption would be that they probably meant "The Country Bears".

As always, the best rule is probably to know your audience and when in doubt, type it out.
 
BrerFrog

BrerFrog

Active Member
After getting to know this site whenever I go to the parks I say the abbreviations inside my head when thinking about where to go next. Just today I went to DHS and EPCOT and I thought to myself "I will try to ride ToT, TSMM and RnRC early in the morning then go to EPCOT and do SSE and take a stroll through WS" :lol:

In other words, you will get used to them.
 
Saintsfan75

Saintsfan75

Member
Original Poster
Krack said:
When it comes to the abbreviations, I'm sympathetic to the newbies and/or computer illiterates. For example, my parents could never use this forum for more than 5 minutes without getting frustrated and never coming back (mostly because of the abbreviations).

I think the key is to use them in moderation and with some common sense. Some of the abbreviations are so obvious and so natural that using them requires very little effort on the part of the reader - WDW, PotC, DHS, TTA, HISTA, IASW, JIYI. On the other hand, some abbreviations (particularly two letter abbreviations) could mean almost anything and are basically useless. For example, on that Acronym guide, it has "CB" listed as "Character Breakfast" and "CBJ" listed as "The Country Bear Jamboree" - call me newb, but I've been going to WDW for 35 years and if I saw someone type "CB", my first assumption would be that they probably meant "The Country Bears".

As always, the best rule is probably to know your audience and when in doubt, type it out.
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I agree with this completely. Abbreviations for the most part are OK, but some abbreviations could mean more than one thing. Good Post!
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Saintsfan75 said:
Like I said before, you sure are a bright ray of sunshine. I never jumped down your throat. You are the one calling people out with the above bolded statements.
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Only those that don't subscribe to my doom and gloom.:rolleyes:

You must be new here if you think I'm such a hardcore pessimist.

Anyway...good day ma'am. I have nothing more to say to you.


marni1971 said:
Simple. Don't like it? Don't visit.

You'll be missing out though.
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When in Rome...
 
IWant2GoNow

IWant2GoNow

Well-Known Member
There's only 2 things I don't like about the abbreviations.

1) That I didn't know about them sooner.

2) That my friends don't know them.

I feel as long as you've read the thread then you should be able to piece together what it means and it shouldn't take longer than a few seconds. I kind of enjoyed them when I was a newb because it was like a brain teaser to test my WDW knowledge. :)
 
Saintsfan75

Saintsfan75

Member
Original Poster
unkadug said:
Only those that don't subscribe to my doom and gloom.:rolleyes:

You must be new here if you think I'm such a hardcore pessimist.

Anyway...good day ma'am. I have nothing more to say to you.
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Not really new, but not really old. Been a member since 2008. I'm actually a guy. 35 years old. Like someone said earlier, I guess all the abbreviations are too close to the text speak that all the teens are doing today.

Don't think that you're a pessimist. You're a Disney fan, so you're probably pretty cool.
 
Saintsfan75

Saintsfan75

Member
Original Poster
IWant2GoNow said:
There's only 2 things I don't like about the abbreviations.

1) That I didn't know about them sooner.

2) That my friends don't know them.

I feel as long as you've read the thread then you should be able to piece together what it means and it shouldn't take longer than a few seconds. I kind of enjoyed them when I was a newb because it was like a brain teaser to test my WDW knowledge. :)
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Very positive way to look at it. I may have to brush up on my Acronyms.
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
My two cents:

They don't bother me. What actually does bother me is people coming in and trying to change the whole dynamic of the site to suit them. Abbreviations/initialisms exist here (and many other sites) and this site has been around for YEARS. Complaining about them isn't going to change anything - it's ingrained in how people post. Some people don't like it - OK fine. Agree to disagree, I suppose.
 
mp2bill

mp2bill

Well-Known Member
Saintsfan75 said:
Am I the only one that, no matter how long I'm on this site, I just can't remember all the abbreviations. It really sucks when someone is giving great advise, but the whole post is full of them and I just can't follow. Is it really that hard to type out Spaceship Earth? :shrug:

Sorry, I'm sure I'm the only one. :wave:
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Agreed. Just write things out people! The only thing that should be abbreviated is EPCOT.
 
wolf359

wolf359

Well-Known Member
What I always find so bizarre about these threads when they pop up is how many people rush to defend a writing style that is less intelligible and more difficult to understand simply in effort to save a couple keystrokes.

Sure, it can be defended by the old "everybody's doing it" rationale, but to many people over the age of 14 that seems like a pretty silly defense.

In spite of the common use of abbreviations online, when you are communicating solely through the written word it is helpful to write things that actually make sense to the most number of people with the least amount of confusion. Why would you NOT want to do that?
 
ddbowdoin

ddbowdoin

Well-Known Member
I can understand the parks... MK, etc etc etc but some of the hotels fly over my head, as do restaurants and what the hell is this DD, DH, DW stuff?
 

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