Too Many Acronymns!

[dae3dae3]

I think everyone should always type Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow from now on when talking about EPCOT because it's been getting too confusing lately.

That would be an example of someone just being pretentious and is a straw-man argument. The acronym is the name on the sign for the park so everyone knows what is meant by it.

 

[Odelay]

I think everyone should always type Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow from now on when talking about EPCOT because it's been getting too confusing lately.

Epcot hasn't stood for that for quite some time.

 

[jco_direwolf]

I think everyone should always type Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow from now on when talking about EPCOT because it's been getting too confusing lately.

Unless you are Walt who sometimes said it was a Community, and some times City. From the video's I've seen he pretty much used those two C words interchangeably

I personally dislike turning Epcot into a noun. I mostly still call it and type it EPCOT Center. Yes I really do say, "I'll meet you after lunch at EPCOT Center."

 

[chalee94]

Every community develops shorthand and jargon. There's no preventing it.

i always find it amusing when people jump in and expect a given community to change to suit them, rather than entering with the notion that they might need to adapt themselves to the group that already exists...

 

[AngiTN]

Tip: if you don't like acronyms, you should probably steer clear of a career in the military. I'm just saying.

LOL.. exactly where my mind went. And probably why I have no issues with the use of acronyms on message boards. I started my working career at a Government contractor writing training documentation with all ex-military. I have been speaking acronyms for 35 years. My mind is trained to see context and translate them without batting an eye. Never occurs to me that others don't.

 

[Alesia]

Like it or not, acronyms are the language of message boards - not just this one, but all of them.

Posting on a message board asking for everyone to stop using acronyms because you can't be bothered to learn them is like going to France and asking everyone to stop speaking French.

When you are the newcomer, you learn the language. And if you have questions while you're still learning, just ask. I've been on message boards for many years and there are still times when I don't understand what someone is saying. So I ask. When you're polite, people are willing to help you. When you come charging in expecting everyone to start doing things your way, it's very off-putting.

 

[minniebeth]

Tip: if you don't like acronyms, you should probably steer clear of a career in the military. I'm just saying.

I know this is OT (Off-Topic), but I just had to respond to this... My DS (son) is in college ROTC (yes, too lazy to type that one out) and he gets so excited telling us about everything but half his conversation is in acronyms. We're constantly telling him "Son... In civilian talk please!"

 

[Angel Ariel]

Wait till the kids of today fill out a job application and use all acrynoms. You know what scares me is the one of them may be sitting in the white house running this country.

If using acronym speak is an issue with running the country, then we are.likely.already in trouble. I've never come across as many acronyms in regular life/jobs as DH has with his gov't jobs.

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

My suggestion then would be to type it once and then CRT to your hearts content. Unless of course that is the subject of the thread and it is already clear. For heavens sake don't use the acronym in the thread title. That's just being lazy. Maybe the fact that the complaint is so common should be a hint that there is a problem and that this forum is not a very friendly place for beginners who are the people who need the most help.

I communicate with people all the time using acronyms in my job but if I'm not sure of the audience I will always use the full phrase once and then abbreviate going forward in the communication. It is bad enough that we need to weed through the 15 posts on each page complaining about fast passes. I don't want to have to also have a cheat sheet to read a supposedly English Language website. I could copy and paste some examples here that are pretty ridiculous and then the next four or five posts as people debate what they actually meant but I don't want to highlight any one person. Even people that are here a lot often can't figure it out.

I joined on here in Nov. and this is the first message board I have ever used. It took me about a week to learn the acronyms. I easily found the list for the acronyms in the first 10 minutes on these boards . I think the the bolded part of your statement can be true on some boards, especially the the theme parks and attractions boards, but not because of the use of acronyms.

 

[dae3dae3]

i always find it amusing when people jump in and expect a given community to change to suit them, rather than entering with the notion that they might need to adapt themselves to the group that already exists...

I want to be part of the cool group too.

The biggest issue is that the forum is pretty hard to understand for new users. If someone asks for clarification they essentially get a RTFM response like I did in the first couple of responses to this thread. There's an acronym for you. I've figured out what most of them mean based on context over time but it isn't any less annoying. Half the time it doesn't even save any time since you're typing on a keyboard. Once again, I don't have an issue with using the acronym if you've written it once. If you've been here as long as you claim I'm sure you've seen the threads where half of it is people arguing about what the poster meant by their acronym usage.

What use is it if someone asks a question and someone responds with alphabet soup.

Also, I did work five years on a Military Base and learned what the acronyms meant because it was my job and was required for clear communication. I also wrote it out once if I was communicating outside of the core group that commonly used that acronym to make sure my communication was clear.

 

[AngiTN]

I want to be part of the cool group too.

The biggest issue is that the forum is pretty hard to understand for new users. If someone asks for clarification they essentially get a RTFM response like I did in the first couple of responses to this thread. There's an acronym for you. I've figured out what most of them mean based on context over time but it isn't any less annoying. Half the time it doesn't even save any time since you're typing on a keyboard. Once again, I don't have an issue with using the acronym if you've written it once. If you've been here as long as you claim I'm sure you've seen the threads where half of it is people arguing about what the poster meant by their acronym usage.

What use is it if someone asks a question and someone responds with alphabet soup.

Also, I did work five years on a Military Base and learned what the acronyms meant because it was my job and was required for clear communication. I also wrote it out once if I was communicating outside of the core group that commonly used that acronym to make sure my communication was clear.

Seeing as use of acronyms has been unchanged in message boards for 10+ years I just don't see this changing. Sorry you dislike it. You feel free to type out the word once and then use the acronym the rest of the time. Just don't be surprised when no one else follows suit. Nothing wrong with trying to start a movement though.

 

[TinkerElsasMom]

Ok.. Acronyms are a form speech shared by a common core of people for the purpose of communication. Here, on the Disney Boards, they are used to shorten longer words because many people are typing on small iPad screens or on phones. It is much easier to type out DD than write out the word daughter.

I understand that when you first enter into a new community it takes awhile to adjust to their form of speech. But you are the one entering it. The community should not change the way they speak because you don't like it. Many people have been using these acronyms for 20plus years. I admit when I first joined the board it took awhile to adjust. But I was the guest here. I was the newbie. If I wanted to continue to be here it was my responsibility to learn the code.

I understand that it is frustrating, but the amount of people who use the acronyms far exceeds the amount of people complaining about them. It's your job to adjust, not theirs to change the way they've spoken for years. Additionally, I have learned to use them because they help with my frequency of typoneese.

Just learn the acronyms. It will get easier as you frequent the boards. The more you read the more you'll know. I still don't know a majority of them. Use context clues

Good luck and have an exceedingly magical day

 

[LetsGoToo]

It's quite interesting that we have multiple people replying to this thread that have been on this board for years, praise using abbreviations to high heaven, and then freely admit that they don't know what people are talking about at times.

Isn't this exactly the original poster's point?

 

[TinkerElsasMom]

It's quite interesting that we have multiple people replying to this thread that have been on this board for years, praise using abbreviations to high heaven, and then freely admit that they don't know what people are talking about at times. Isn't this exactly the original poster's point?

I've only been on the board for six months.

 

[clsteve]

I know this is OT (Off-Topic), but I just had to respond to this... My DS (son) is in college ROTC (yes, too lazy to type that one out) and he gets so excited telling us about everything but half his conversation is in acronyms. We're constantly telling him "Son... In civilian talk please!"

Aaargh!, DAF is sending me TDY to AFCENT from PACAF right before my DEROS to CONUS to be the TECO for the IG and I can't get a MAC hop and the BOQ is full...!!

Wait till he gets his commission and a few years active duty under his belt. It only gets better.....

 

[BrianL]

ECFWFG.... now what could that stand for?

Okay, what does that one mean? I've been trying to be a smarty-pants and figure it out, but I can't. I think it has something to do with Food and Wine Festival.

 

[Alesia]

It's quite interesting that we have multiple people replying to this thread that have been on this board for years, praise using abbreviations to high heaven, and then freely admit that they don't know what people are talking about at times.

Isn't this exactly the original poster's point?

But instead of just asking, which is the polite thing to do, the OP is saying that everyone should start doing things her way.

Can you not see how that comes off as rude?

 

[GotLabradors]

Don't fight it! Just drink the acronym kool-aid and be happy!

 

[soxfan040713]

Completely agree with this issue, obviously the acronyms aren't going to stop on here, but as others have said, these boards SHOULD be an informational tool for people traveling to Disney Parks and instead half the posts are more confusing than Egyptian hieroglyphics. And this is just my own personal opinion, but I feel the use of acronyms make you look smug and arrogant about how knowledgable you are about Disney, especially when some words and phrases have zero need for it. There are some extremely helpful people on here to help beginners, others just brag about how many times they've been.

 

[kohlby]

If you're not sure what people are talking about - either look it up or ask. Though many of the abbreviations I know, there are times I don't know what they mean. I've never had anyone rude to me when I've asked. Writing TT for Test Track is normal Disney board lingo. (I realize you said it wasn't geared to anyone in particular, but I wondered if my question was your tipping point). I don't do it to be smug or show how much I know, it's just the style of any Disney message board I've ever been on so I naturally fall into it. It's not me trying to not be friendly to beginners - I don't mind explaining if asked. (And if someone started a thread asking for advice on something and specifically said that they struggle with the acronyms, then I would write it all out for them on their thread when giving them advice).