On Oct 15, 2006, at 10:14 AM, Jerry Daniels wrote:
Is your first name "Dar" or is that an abbreviation (abbrev) for
something else?
Both! My birth certificate says "Darwin" and I use that in formal
signatures.
The dual name is a tradition my parents borrowed from my namesake who
introduced them. The dual name is like a nickname with a formal
name. The name Dar means "oak" and the name Darwin means "beloved
friend" (or lover of the sea), so the pair is a reminder that a dear
friend is steadfast, a reminder I can use. The history of the name
gets wrapped up with pearl and Mary somehow.
One of my sons got a couple degrees in biology and while going to
school for that he would introduce me to his profs by saying "And
this is my father, Darwin". Unlike Chuck, my focus is on Revolution
rather than evolution.
So, with that duality I might be inspired to see both 'cd' and 'card'
as alternate spellings of card. I intend to be accepting of 'cd' but
it might take a while to start typing 'cd'. Since we all know I'm
not a real card-head, I don't have a strong social pressure to do so.
So, my question to all, since it seems to be OK and even "in" to use
abbreviations, how about for examples on this list where newbies read
scripts? Should those be spelled out or should newbies learn to read
abbrev early? (The word "should" should be read in the most generous
sense in all places.)
Slightly related: I sometimes use f(x) instead of 'the f of x' where
I think it is more readable, especially within a more math-like
expression. I sometimes use temporary variables for documentation
and to avoid multiline statements, though my natural tendency is to
write a single return (perhaps multiple lines) for some function
definitions. The latter are often shorter, but only Andre can read
them.
Less related: Of course abbreviations are right for script compressors.
Oh, and here is one Andre might understand, "cd" looks like "cdr" to
me, an "abbreviation" for "first". It gets typed cud or fcd or cdar
when I'm typing fast. (I suspect there is a lot of sloshing from one
neuron to another in my brain or ganglia).
Dar
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