Whatever happened to good old everyday words? You know, those building blocks of the English language that string together to form phrases and sentences? Apparently in the 21st century, words are becoming obsolete as, one by one, they?re replaced by acronyms.
You know what I?m talking about: those pseudo-words composed of the first letters of a series of words, like FBI, for Federal Bureau of Investigation or CIA for Central Intelligence Agency.
Every day more and more of these verbal shortcuts become part of the daily lexicon, and using “acronym-speak” secures your entry into the ranks of the verbally cool.
The CDC, NIH and TV news keep us abreast of diseases and conditions like SARS, AIDS, PMS and one of my personal favorites RLS, (restless leg syndrome).
Music is downloaded onto iPods or we can listen to CDs. Moviesare on DVDs. We view pictures on JPEG files on our PCs (not to be confused with PC for politically correct), and when we e-mail, we use terms like LOL (laughing out loud) or maybe even ROFL (rolling on floor laughing). OMG (Oh, my God) are you kidding?
At work, FYI it?s a good idea to CYA, and by the way, KISS (Keep it simple, stupid).
Soldiers in Iraq face the deadly danger of IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
Fashionable women might wear DKNY or BCBG.
In Baltimore, students study at UMBC. We drive on the JFX. If you need a hospital, you might go to GBMC. And perhaps you?ve heard of SNAP (Charm City?s Strategic Neighborhood Action Plans).
If you ask me, acronyms have become the language of the lazy. Why speak whole words when a few letters will do?
Maybe one day we?ll hardly need words at all. Instead of “I?m tired,” we?ll just say “IT.” But then people will wonder if we mean “information technology,” or perhaps “income tax” or maybe even “international terrorism.”
I?m not saying acronyms have no place in our language, but you have to wonder when the Web site “Acronym Finder” claims to list more than three million, most with multiple meanings. When someone types IMHO, how do you know whether they mean “in my humble opinion” or whether the “H” stands for “holy,” “honest,” “highest” or “hysterical”? Acronym Finder lists them all.
I really had to worry when I found this acronym: “DOMAI,” which sounds far better than what it stands for: Dirty Old Men?s Association International.
Ugh! And I don?t mean uveitis glaucoma hyphema syndrome. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and a word is just a word.
Deborah Stone?s column runs every other week. E-mail her at [email protected].
