WTF?

Is it just me, or are abbreviations and pointless acronyms taking over the world?

IMHO it’s really quite unnecessary, ISTM that the overuse of abbreviations in a written conversation can leave a casual onlooker mystified. In short, it’s little more than glorified text talk.

Seriously, some acronyms do have their place. For instance, scientists have abbreviated ‘ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase’ to Rubisco – now that is understandable. However, when people shorten ‘it seems to me’ to ISTM, it really does appear to be laziness of the highest order.

AFAIC, it’s a simple case of GIGO, and does rather point to IIIO – with clear connections to ESO. IRL acronyms are JOOTT that you come across every now and then. Mind you, YNK when you might actually need to write AP in a hurry, or be in such a rush to CTC that you think tapping on the keyboard to produce a TLA will give you some kind of VFM then you’re not so much thinking OOTB, more with your HUYA…

So, next time you’re tempted to take shortcuts when typing, remember how irritating it was to read the above paragraph – and don’t inflict your pointless acronyms on others.

For a list of common internet acronyms and shorthand visit: