Were drowning in a sea of Acronyms and 'shop talk' guys

Although I am fairly new to ATS I have been studying aircraft and military subjects for over 25 years. Recently I have noticed a surge in the use of acronyms and techno bable in these fields. Whilst I recognise the need for it, I have come to realise that we are starting to drown in it. Unfortunately this disease has spread to discussion forums like our very own ATS. Many of us are unknowingly guilty of this, myself included.

The whole point of a discussion forum is to provide a place where people can openly debate ideas and exchange information. The problem is even I have been having trouble understanding what some people are saying due to (sometimes) overuse of this special language. I dont want anyone to get offended by this, but if few people can understand what you are saying there isnt much point in saying it. Try to imagine what some of our ATS bretheren who dont use English as a first language are going through attempting to decipher slang terms used in say one countries military only.

Therefore I suggest we try to do something positive about it. I would like to put forward the concept of an acronym, techspeak and terminology 'dictionary'. This could be permantly placed at the top of the forum by the moderators so it is within easy reach. All members could have access to it and the ability to add to it. This saves people having to disrupt the forums explaining what they are saying. But above all lets try thinking about the language we use and how we use it for the good of all.

Of course if this has already been done please insert embarrasing reply here

I'll start the ball rolling.
'A' is for: aircraft, attack...
'B' is for?

LEE.

Department of Defense Military Terms

www.dtic.mil...
Acronyms and Abbreviations

Aviation Terms

Avaition Acronyms

www.gps.tc.faa.gov...

[edit on 11-3-2007 by skunkworks82]

this is a real problem in many areas the use of jargon and acronyms shop talk it actually makes things easier for the people in the know because it is a kind of spoken short hand or code but when speaking to people out side of you work or interest group in causes delays when you have to sit and explain what you mean every third word, in the area of emergency services and emergency operations they are trying to cut down on specialized words and acronyms as it takes time and time is lives, if you take the National Incident Management System courses to comply with federal emergency management they go into speaking in plain word or plain text no codes or acronyms. so it would really help to speed the discussion if we would all just keep it simple. yes this lessens your ability to show off your knowledge and look like an insider but please just tell me what you mean.

Thanks for the links skunkworks82.
I was aware that there were sites out there like this. My point was maybe we could have an 'inhouse' one to save you having to open up secondary tabs/windows. This would also keep it a little more compact and therefore relevant to ATS user needs. Plus I seem to have struck a chord with wcssar over the use of plain language to stop bogging down the forums.

yes this lessens your ability to show off your knowledge and look like an insider but please just tell me what you mean.

Exactly my point wcssar, though I didnt want to ruffle any feathers by saying it as a new boy.

LEE.

Well when intelgurl (poster that helps over see aviation thread) she may help create a link that can be posted at the top of the thread that is a list of acronyms that are standered on ATS. I was able to do this with the Debunked thread Ideas (which may need cleaning so that its only the relevant information) so it is possible. Basically If you start to compile it and U2U some of the moderators on this forum and you have already done substanceal leg work they would probably be more then happy to help out.

The following are the aviation forums current moderators.
intrepid, FredT, Mirthful Me, masqua, 12m8keall2c
feel free to contact them as it is their "job". good luck and if you a hand just ask in the thread and someone will answer for sure.

[edit on 22/08/06 by Canada_EH]

Where is Kurt on this?

Although I am fairly new to ATS...

Spot the deliberate mistake

I disagree with the OP; I think what this IMB needs is some HTWD to keep it moving along. Of course only the TDTs will understand what I'm saying, but I don't mind because I'm MTBSUAIGA so it's probably best that way IMHO.

PS. Why is abreviation such a long word?

PS. Why is abreviation such a long word?

Its even longer than you think, especially WYSIR

It's a small point, but it's important to get it's right...

And from an Englishman and all...

Sorry Waynos, couldn't resist!

On topic, there are indeed a lot of acronyms that come with the territory in this forum. It will be almost impossible to cover every possible combination, and considering some acronyms have different meanings in different contexts, even those familiar with them can spend time going "Hmmm." If you don't understand something, please ask. That's how we learn. Don't feel embarrassed that you don't understand something, hell I'm still learning myself!

there is one particular poster that I think could make an entire posting
out of acronyms.

Touche Willard, well spotted. Now, do I plead laziness or ignorance?

I can think of at least one person who drowns the entire public in acronyms.

I agree, even though I've been here for a while and have a natural passion for these areas, I am always set off by people who only use acronyms because I wasn't specialized by a military branch. I'll pick off simple acronyms, but if it is at all possible for everyone to use the whole word and then put the acronym in parenthesis, then please do so. I know it seems like a bit more work, but we are all here to learn and teach and one of the biggest ways to help each other is by explaining exactly what we mean in our original post and trying to make as much sense as possible.

If doing anything other than that, well then you're just here to show off and not exactly here to aid the community and I think we all dislike know-it-alls and show offs.

Shattered OUT...

One of the most simple ways to handle this, is if your gonna post WMD (weapons of mass destruction) then just put a caption of what it means.. ATS is here to inform people not make them feel stupid. If your here to make yourself feel superior, then you dont belong here. Period !!!!!

Thankyou to all who read or replied. I appreciated the humour it made me.. LOL literally! (or is that actually?)

Daedalus3, that was the very person I was thinking of. I love his posts but sometimes I need a translator sitting beside me

Canada_EH, I may just take up your suggestion and talk to the moderators about this, I still think it could be of help to the forum.

Well, T.A.F.N (Thats All For Now)

LEE.

I think what tends to happen is that there is a core group of people (myslef included) who tend to roam around this forum and have become comfortable with the use of acronyms and so on. Now, that does not make it fair to the other people who may not be used to these terms, but it is, "shop talk" as you say, and is common. I like the suggestion of including the parentheses version as well.
However, theere is never any intention of drowning somebody in these terms, and yes, I totally know who it is that you are all speaking of that often does this! I think it is just a habit, similar to street jargon or other pigeon-type languages. Either way, we should all be careful not to exclude others, which is your original point I believe!?

Let me ask you though, what is OK and what is not?? For instance, HUD (Heads Up Display) should be about the most common and well known aircraft term, yes?? But, not to somebody who just does not know...so where do we draw the line??? Honestly, I think the intention is good here but I think we really need to do as Skunkworks suggests, and just limit the amounts! If we want to get technical, we can always put a disclaimer at the top of the thread or u2u one another.

OP, good eye opener for all of us and yes, there are ways to include and educate others at the same time without requiring a book of codes at the side!!

Thanks for the idea, Peace....Mondo

I just wanted to say thanks bozeian for being level headed and open to what everyone has to say. A list of acronyms could be nice but people did bring up good points about how there can be more then one meaning for an acronym. A list could cover that but the best way is if you think some people on here don't know it type it once then use the short form.

List is still a good idea but it doesn't solve all the problems lol.

To put on my best service writing hat (and can I say up front, I failed military writing course a couple of times - guess I was spending too much time thinking about other things during officer's school...)

The formal requirement for acronyms is, in the first instance it is used in writing, is to use the full description, with the abbreviation in brackets after. For example, head up display (HUD). Flight Control System (FLCS). Fire Control System (FCS). Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) etc (ETC..uhh...hmmm). Anyways, you get the idea. Now, the question is, do we do this for every post, or just the first occurence of an acronym (first, second or hundreth post). New members will still get confused. So, I'm in two minds. A centralised acronym list would be handy. But having it in the thread would also be handy. A mixture of both? I have some other ideas, but let me talk to a few people first.

Willard

I agree with you Willard and since this post I have been typing the full meaning in brackets and the acronym in front of it. I agree with your suggestions as they reflect my very one too. But the above idea is the easy on to implement it just falls as the response ablity of the writer where as other options fall on the reader and my be more complex. Anyways good posts guys hopefully something can come of it.

TPWUTMAITATSDLYPOOL.





















(The problem with using too many acronyms is that above top secret doesn't let you post only one-liners)









[edit on 18-3-2007 by planeman]

My thought on this is that you should treat each post individually and take responsibility as the writer to ensure your 'audience' can understand you, anything else is pure arrogance. Therefore you should type the meaning in full with the acronym in brackets on the first occasion you mention it (even if it is the 100th post in the thread and your own 20th) and you are then free to use the acronym thereafter *in that post*. You should always assume that the reader is reading your particular post first and write accordingly. Anyone disagree with that?



[edit on 19-3-2007 by waynos]