# I hate people who put btw and then... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 9, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548 "2003-06-09T00:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/21 "2003-06-09T16:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RexDart \* > \*\*I never understood what was so OMG or WTF about BBQ as to necessitate that particular acronym. Oh well, YMMV. > > I’d rather see a screen full of acronyms than l337-speak any day of the week. \*\* //h47’5 //r0||G //|7|-| 1337-5P34K? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tcdaniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@tcdaniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcdaniel)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/22 "2003-06-09T16:13:16Z")
WGAF??! ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/23 "2003-06-09T16:13:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _screams into a pillow_ [/John Candy] “Those aren’t pillows!!!” [//John Candy] ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/24 "2003-06-09T16:32:26Z")
[nit] RAWDuke, it was Steve Martin who said “Those aren’t pillows.” The dialogue: [John Candy kisses Steve Martin’s ear] SM: Why did you kiss my ear? JC: Why are you holding my hand? SM: Where’s your other hand? JC: Between two pillows. SM: THOSE AREN’T PILLOWS! [/nit] Munch - big PTA fan ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/25 "2003-06-09T17:02:55Z")
> [@](#): > > [nit] RAWDuke, it was Steve Martin who said “Those aren’t pillows.” The dialogue: Thanks, Munch. My memory isn’t what I remember it to be;) ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/26 "2003-06-09T18:07:17Z")
WTF: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I actually saw this on the marquee for some bar announcing a local band that was playing there. Underneath the band’s name (I don’t remember what it was) it said W T F . ---
**Author:** ![7\_up\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/919ad9/32.png) [@7\_up\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7_up_yours)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/27 "2003-06-09T19:44:49Z")
**2trew** , I know what you’re talking about. Another one to add to the list is SPC card. SPC is Student Price Card, offered to, obviously, the students here. My friends who are no longer in school often ask me to borrow my SPC card to get discounts at various places. I always reply with a “You’re asking for my student price card card?” They [sometimes] realize their mistake and correct themselves. Then, a week later, it’s always “Can I borrow your SPC card?” I don’t know why I bother; they’ll never learn. **Captain Amazing** , I’m all for clearing up confusion. What I’m saying though, is that it’s annoying when it’s redundant. If a certain person doesn’t want anyone to be confused about abbreviations, then simply leave it out. Why do people write > [@](#): > > BTW (by the way) I think that comment you made was very intelligent when they can simply put > [@](#): > > By the way, I think the comment you made was very intelligent As for numbers written as words or just numbers written as numbers, what I was taught as a rule was if I was taking notes that only I would look at later, then writing them as numbers is fine. However, if it was for an official document or even a test, then writing out the word would be the proper way. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/28 "2003-06-10T01:08:46Z")
I was taught that you should always write out the numbers from one to ten, and then write them as numbers from eleven onwards. Needless to say… I’ve strayed from that teaching many, many times. However, I’ve rarely strayed from the second part of that rule, which is to never start a sentence off with a number written as such. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Azure\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@Azure\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azure_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/29 "2003-06-10T01:34:41Z")
Hmmm. I’ve been told that the rule is that you write it out for numbers from one to ninety-nine, and afterwards write them as numbers. For example: Ninety-nine kids were at the game. They ate 101 sausages. However, I think it was just one of those rules teachers made up to simplify things because the real rule was more complex. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/30 "2003-06-10T03:10:28Z")
Whether (and when) to spell out numbers is a style decision. There is no single “rule.” The Chicago Manual of Style has an entire chapter on the treatment of numbers. Now, with that out of the way . . . Anybody remember Dilbert’s TTP project? TTP stands for The TTP Project. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/31 "2003-06-10T03:19:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*Anybody remember Dilbert’s TTP project? TTP stands for The TTP Project. \*\* Always suspected he was a unix programmer. ---
**Author:** ![BadBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@BadBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBaby)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/32 "2003-06-10T03:30:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > \*\*I think this is possibly a subset of one of my own pet peeves, which involves people who insist that they use their PIN number at the ATM machine. \*\* OMG it took me waaay too long to figure that one out. :o BTW, I was reading a recap of Six Feet Under on [TelevisonWithoutPity.com](http://TelevisonWithoutPity.com) and it took me forever to get DGDJ. As I’ve already demonstrated I’m not too swift in this area, but that was a toughy. Dead Guy Du Jour! If they’d just spelled it out once I could have slept much better that night. I’m not slow, I’m acronym challenged! ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/33 "2003-06-10T04:49:59Z")
Some annoying Acronym/Redundency issues I deal with daily that irk the hell out of me. NIC (Network Interface Card) Card and just about any networking related acronymm ending with “P” followed by the word protocol eg SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Protocol HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Protocol the worst though is TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Protocol ---
**Author:** ![big\_yellow\_kingswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@big\_yellow\_kingswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_yellow_kingswood)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/34 "2003-06-10T06:01:32Z")
I always thought that the number(#) thing on official documents was a kind of double-check against mistakes. If I record that someone was paid seven thousand, one hundred and twenty four dollars ($7124) the two numbers can be refeenced against each other. So if the document has “seven thousand, one hundred and twenty four dollars ($714)” or “seven thousand, one hundred and four dollars ($7124)” then anyone reading the document should be able to spot that something’s wrong and go check it out. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/35 "2003-06-10T06:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meros \* > \*\*Some annoying Acronym/Redundency issues I deal with daily that irk the hell out of me. > > NIC (Network Interface Card) Card > > and just about any networking related acronymm ending with “P” followed by the word protocol eg > > SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Protocol > HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Protocol > the worst though is > > TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) Protocol \*\* Protocol is very important. Perhaps we should create a Universal Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol “Protocol” Protocol to govern the protocol relating to the use of the word protocol in discussing TCP/IP protocols? Now I can’t even tell if I spelled it right to begin with. My job here is done. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/36 "2003-06-10T08:08:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > tdn, it’s more common the other way around, and it’s done for a reason (which escapes me at the moment). I work at a law firm, and whenever numbers are written into documents, they’re written “words (number)”, as in “two (2)”. It’s proper to have the number written out, but the numerical representation is there for clarification The reason it’s done that way is because LAIA (lawyers are incredibly anal).😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548/37 "2003-06-10T09:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcdaniel \* > \*\*WTF (White Toad Farts?) \*\* **Wet** Toad Farts. Right? OMGIASSFT. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-people-who-put-btw-and-then/180548.md?page=1)