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  1. #1
    Senior Member JerryW's Avatar
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    Acronyms and Abbreviations

    This isn't a suggestion for the forum, rather for the forum users.

    Many people are using only acronyms and abbreviations(WBBB, HHSS, BWDD, etc.) in their posts and this can be very confusing for newer members(and sometimes the veterans, too). My suggestions would be to spell out the complete name of the item or company the first time you reference it, and then use the abbreviation when referring to it in the rest of the post.

    This would really cut down on much of the confusion and I think it will also make it easier for folks to do product searches.



    Jerry
    The "Search" function is your friend!

  2. #2
    Senior Member beep's Avatar
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    OK. HYOH. YMMV. LOL.
    "The more I carry the happier I am in camp; the less I carry the happier I am getting there" - Sgt. Rock

  3. #3
    Senior Member Bubba's Avatar
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    Good suggestion. I try to do that sometimes. I get lazy especially if I'm on my Blackberry.
    Don't let life get in the way of living.

  4. #4
    Senior Member olddog's Avatar
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    Probably guilty myself this evening. Good idea.
    Most of us end up poorer here but richer for being here. Olddog, Fulltime hammocker, 365 nights a year.

  5. #5
    Senior Member gargoyle's Avatar
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    IDK, every culture has their own lingo. Keeps Mrs. G confused.
    There is a glossary around somewhere.
    TTYL OMG BFF (I learned those from the kids)


    IDK = I don't know
    TTYL = talk to ya later
    OMG = oh my god!
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    Last edited by gargoyle; 07-09-2011 at 19:51.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Roche's Avatar
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    How else does one learn?

    Less is more.

    Long posts (fill in the blank).

    GLOSSARY http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=192

    ACRONYMS http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=216

  7. #7
    Senior Member TiredFeet's Avatar
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    Good luck on this suggestion.

    I've seen it before on the forums. Those who abuse the use of Acronyms refuse to acknowledge the confusion they cause or if they do, it is only a temporary reprieve.

    Personally, I've gotten to the point that for some posters I simply skip anything they post. I figure that I wouldn't understand their acronyms, so the post is lost anyway. Some others I scan quickly without reading to see how many acronyms they sprinkle around. If it seems like too many or too strategically placed, I skip the post and any by others referencing the post.

    I don't mind too much those who limit their acronyms to the ones listed in a thread on the forums that has a list of forums acronyms. Unfortunately others pull in acronyms from their work world or acronyms they consider to be widely used or they just make up acronyms on the fly thinking that they are obviously obvious . Those usually leave me totally blind. Most of the time I can use Google to get an idea of what they mean, but by then I have lost interest in the post anyway, so I don't bother with that anymore either.

    I used to post asking what the acronym meant, but reading the answer the next day or the day after that kinda messes with the joy of reading other's ideas since I've usually forgotten why I found it interesting in the first place.

    I know what you mean about making it easier for beginners. I have sampled some forums on the internet where the use of acronyms was so prevalent, that reading the forums (in English) was something like learning a new foreign language (which it is). I no longer bother with those forums.

    Heck, it's been almost 50 years since I took 2 years of German. I can still read that quicker than I can some peoples acronyms.

    I've never understood the need by some to use acronyms. Even for a 2 finger typist like myself, it isn't a great burden to spell all the words out completely.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Adarack's Avatar
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    I never like acronyms or abbreviations. They only make things more complicated for experienced and new comers alike. I also do my best to only use full names when posting (sometimes on the phone I get lazy).

    It is also MUCH harder/impossible to use the search function since anything less than 3 letters is ignored my the software. Many like JRB, BMB, WB, BB, BMJ, HH, etc. are all less than 3 letters and you CAN'T search for them.

    If you use the full name in the search you miss out on all the threads who only use acronyms or abbreviations.

    So the only thing left for people is to browse through endless posts looking for the info they want or to post their own thread asking the same question again that was answered 3 weeks ago in an abbreviated format.

    This is a monster of a problem. It would be nice if the mods could adjust the site software to allow less then 3 letter searches (depending on the software this may not be possible) or to require people to use the full name at least once in their post and never use acronyms or abbreviations in the title of threads or replys.



    Quote Originally Posted by Roche View Post
    How else does one learn?

    Less is more.

    Long posts (fill in the blank).

    GLOSSARY http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=192

    ACRONYMS http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=216
    Those are great links and were well used when I first joined but how does that help with the searching issues?
    Fry: "I can't swallow that!"
    Farnsworth: "Well then, good news! It's a suppository."

  9. #9
    Senior Member TiredFeet's Avatar
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    What I think would be really great to deal with acronyms is software that resides on the forum server. The software would scan a post when it is posted (or the review function used) to scan for acronyms and expand the acronym with a full approved expansion. The poster could then edit the post if the acronym was expanded incorrectly. Of course, the poster would be forced to expand the acronym him or her self if there was no approved expansion.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Adarack's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TiredFeet View Post
    What I think would be really great to deal with acronyms is software that resides on the forum server. The software would scan a post when it is posted (or the review function used) to scan for acronyms and expand the acronym with a full approved expansion. The poster could then edit the post if the acronym was expanded incorrectly. Of course, the poster would be forced to expand the acronym him or her self if there was no approved expansion.
    That could work if that extension exists for this forums software and they were willing to manage such a list which could be a significant amount of work. I for one would not mind the change.
    Last edited by Adarack; 07-12-2011 at 20:30.
    Fry: "I can't swallow that!"
    Farnsworth: "Well then, good news! It's a suppository."

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