Folks, this is not the place for this kind of a conversation.
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter B. West [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 11:03 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: AW: TMCA
Maybe the wiseguys around here should stop putting this non-English
speaker down and spare a thought for what he is saying. Sure, acronyms
save some time, but there is a price. I initially struggled with many
acronyms, and I am a native. Add to that the fact that certain acronyms
(e.g. PITA) would be quite offensive to a non-native speaker unaware of
the idiomatic usage, who is simply translating verbatim.
The fact is that we are trying to cultivate a multi-cultural
environment. Suggestions for improving that environment should be taken
seriously, even if, in the end, they are not acted on.
Peter
Ben Fowler wrote:
> At 5:24 pm +0200 27/2/2003, Johan Åbrandt wrote:
>
>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>
>>
>>>...
>>>This "lingo" thing feeld like slang, something that restrict groups use to
>>>encode meaning in a way outsiders cannot percieve. Reading text stuffed
>>>with it is like talking to my teenager niece: sometimes I cannot understand
>>>a word...
>>>But I must learn to live with it, otherwise when my 7-month old daughter
>>>begins to talk I willl be excluded....
>>
>>
>>So I guess "This 'lingo' thing" servers the same purpose as quoting philosophers after your signature, i.e. to show that you belong to a group - to which only persons of a certain standard - for example knowledge of contemporary philosophy - or internet abreviations - can belong. It increases your standing with persons who understand - and helps in keeping distance from those who dont.
>>
>>Is this what you meant?
>
>
> I don't think that it is what he meant (but there is nothing wrong with your argument).
>
> As I read it, the OP saw a 4 letter acronym and thought that it related to XSLT, XSL-FO, XHTML
> or some such, and felt hurt and a little sore when after some effort he found that PITA did not
> relate to the subject domain.
>
> I agree that a little help may be needed to get everyone up to speed with abbreviations and
> acronyms used on mailing lists (AFAICT, FWIW, IIRC et cetera), but I would argue that
> such abbreviations are for use rather than ornamentation, and strongly concur with
> posting sites where they can be interpreted. I would add, for the benefit of the OP, that
> they can be assigned the same meaning in different languages with no penalty, save
> that the the letters don't match exactly:
>
> <URL: http://www.intersolinc.com/newsletters/newsltr5.htm >
>
> SI -> Système International -> International System of Units
> <URL: http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/S06.html >
> SIDA -> Syndrome immunodÈficitaire acquis -> Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome
> <URL: http://www.teenaids.org/gnTeens/glossary.html >
--
Peter B. West [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.powerup.com.au/~pbwest/
"Lord, to whom shall we go?"
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