Abbreviations in conversations !

Paul T. ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:42:06 PST

>
>There is a small group of long established phrase abbreviations for email use:
>
>afaik - as far as I know
>afaict - as far as I can tell
>iirc - if I recall correctly (weasel phrase)
>imo - in my opinion
>imho - in my humble opinion (usually means their opinion is anything but
>humble!)

Rodger,

I've been an internet user for many years now, 
and I have rarely seen half of these used in 
emails.  Both afaik and imho I recognise, but the 
others I wouldn't without having to really think 
about it.  I guess that just makes me lazy?


>As it happens, the two-letter abbreviations for American states and Canadian
>provinces are also best avoided, as they can be confused with the two letter
>country codes used as top level domains on the internet. Does CA mean
>California or Canada?

Or that those two letter abbreviations may mean 
absolutely nothing to a large proportion of 
non-americans.  I do not use NSW or ACT without 
first linking them in some way to New South Wales 
(a state of Australia) and Australian Capital 
Territory (a territory of Australia) as I assume 
that anyone overseas wouldn't understand.... I 
wish that those routinely using the US state 
codes would do the same courtesy to the rest of 
the world. <sigh>  I tend to be lazy and just not 
look them up, because I guess that if I am 
expected to already know the US codes by heart, 
then the message is I assume only intended for US 
members.  I know that this is the Pacific Bulb 
Society list, but I also know that this is 
intended for a far larger audience than just those living in that area!!


>If you are going to use email, learn to use it right. That includes details
>like having a signature block preceded by a line with two hyphens and a space
>following them (recognized by the better email software so .sigs can be auto-
>deleted when quoting). Make sure your .sig block 
>says where you are, both city
>(spelled out!), state or province, (spelled out!), and country (spelled out!)

You're assuming also here that everyone using 
these lists is tech-savvy enough to actually set 
up a signature block.  If you were to require 
everyone to have the level of knowledge you're 
saying should be enforced here, you'd certainly 
cut down the membership of the forum..... which I 
think should be inclusive of all ages, rather 
than those who are computer technically 
minded.  I'm and ex-tech, previously computer 
qualified, and I still struggle to understand 
some of the things you're suggesting everyone who 
isn't lazy should know, which means that the 
average person on this list most likely has zero chance of doing so.


>If in doubt, spell it out!

Many of us are in doubt re your acronyms....... so that means? <big grin>

This forum is open and welcome to anyone who is 
interested in the plants we're talking about.  I 
rarely post to forums much at present as my wife 
has been ill and is undergoing chemotherapy, so 
there have been other priorities.  I still read 
pretty much everything though.  There are a 
miriad of people who read this list who never 
post, and they should be encouraged to do so, 
regardless of their technical knowledge I think, 
because without new input this would become a 
rather boring set of pontifications I would imagine. <grin>

Now I hope everyone understands <grin>, <big 
grin> and <sigh>?  Maybe I should include a 
<wink> at various places in here as well. 
LOL  Keep smiling all, and thank you for all your 
wonderfully entertaining emails.

Take care all, and have a great 2012, somewhat belatedly wished in my case.

Cheers.

Paul T.
Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. 
Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.

Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all 
over the world including Aroids, Crocus, 
Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus, 
Irises, Liliums, Trilliums (to name but a few) 
and just about anything else that doesn't move!! 




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