# I Pit ILMVI for Complaining Incessantly About Acronyms **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142 "2021-05-29T01:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/21 "2021-05-29T04:20:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I actually do often look up **TLAs** and it can be a pain to find them. ???   ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/22 "2021-05-29T04:22:33Z")
Seconded. What’s even more annoying is that I sat here trying to figure out what a TLA was for more than a minute. Still don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/23 "2021-05-29T04:26:10Z")
See, the thing is, I see “TLA” and even though I don’t know what it means, I quickly realize, from contextual cues, that’s its precise definition isn’t really super important. So while it might be “nice” to know, as a matter of curiosity, what it means, I would say it’s hardly worth derailing a (normal) thread over. But here, of course, it’s a FFA. ETA: And you see, just as an exercise in satisfying my curiosity, I just Google _TLA acronym_ and came up with _Three Letter Acronyms_. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/24 "2021-05-29T04:27:26Z")
Future Farmers of America? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/25 "2021-05-29T04:30:17Z")
Didn’t play Starcraft/Brood Wars much in the golden days of battle net, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/26 "2021-05-29T04:36:32Z")
Yeah, i frequently struggle with acronyms. So anyone pitting someone who shares my pain is going to get poked by me. I’d never actually noticed that I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I had a habit of asking about them. Maybe he’s annoying when he asks. As i said, I’ve never noticed one way or the other. But odds are, I’ll still be grateful that someone else already asked before i got to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/27 "2021-05-29T04:38:47Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > See, the thing is, I see “TLA” and even though I don’t know what it means, I quickly realize, from contextual cues, that’s its precise definition isn’t really super important. So while it might be “nice” to know, as a matter of curiosity, what it means, I would say it’s hardly worth derailing a (normal) thread over. But here, of course, it’s a FFA. There’s a couple ways to solve this. Either people don’t do the acronyms in the first place, which is why the Pittee is reminding people not to do it. Or the more time consuming thing is to start an acronym thread and link to it. If people are interested, they can click on the link. If they’re not, they don’t have to comment on it. But someone would have to do a lot of work for that. [j/k] Or Discourse could disallow any short non-words. [/j/k] j/k = just kidding > [@needscoffee](#): > > Future Farmers of America? lol, that’s what I got from Google too, after way too much effort than it was worth. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/28 "2021-05-29T04:39:25Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > ETA: And you see, just as an exercise in satisfying my curiosity, I just Google _TLA acronym_ and came up with _Three Letter Acronyms_ . Yeah, I googled TLA. It wasn’t even on the first page of hits. I found it, but it was stupid for BigT to have used it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/29 "2021-05-29T04:42:25Z")
I thought TLA was fairly common parlance. Then again, apparently FFA is supposed to be, but I haven’t the faintest clue what that means. When FTW started showing up in threads, I was completely perplexed as all I could see was that it was WTF backwards. I generally don’t mind the acronyms, but there are times I get frustrated by why posters can’t just spell the damned thing out if there’s a reasonable chance of a non-trivial amount of posters not being familiar with it. NW (Northwestern, listed in one of the threads) I sussed out because I went there and live in the area, but nobody here refers to it as NW. We call it NU, which can be confusing, as that often refers to Nebraska (or many other universities.) When I was at school, our domain was NWU.edu, so it’s not really a common abbreviation – at least in my experience – for it. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/30 "2021-05-29T04:45:28Z")
That’s why you’ve got to google _TLA **acronym** _ Because we’re talking about acronyms, and it was in that context @BigT used it. Similarly, **ILMVI** might have googled _BVR dogfight_ or _BVR AMRAAM_ to the extent BVR might otherwise have been an ambiguous acronym. Or, as I did in my initial reading, just glossed right over it because it wasn’t really integral to what was being discussed. Not unlike when the Marklars replace marklars with marklar. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/31 "2021-05-29T04:47:58Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > That’s why you’ve got to google _TLA **acronym** _ Or people could write for comprehension instead of self-indulgence. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/32 "2021-05-29T04:50:04Z")
Sure. And to be clear, I wouldn’t be pitting **ILMVI** if all they did was ask “What does marklar mean?” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/33 "2021-05-29T04:54:18Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Sure. And to be clear, I wouldn’t be pitting **ILMVI** if all they did was ask “What does marklar mean?” - Yeah, but this is such an old complaint that I’m surprised people still don’t know that obscure terms need defining in the first usage. A _little_ snark doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/34 "2021-05-29T04:57:57Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Or people could write for comprehension instead of self-indulgence. This, so much this. A reader shouldn’t have to ask what an acronym means, that forces them to surrender agency, giving the acronym flaunter ‘power over’, which usually feels like the point. Don’t be a jerk applies here. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/35 "2021-05-29T05:01:25Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Don’t be a jerk applies here. But, and to the point I am making (or seeking to make), it seems the same should apply to the acronymterrogator. Recall exhibit A (the legalese): > [@Can an American with a 40 year old DUI in America, visit Canada?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-american-with-a-40-year-old-dui-in-america-visit-canada/943054/28): > > _Nolle pros_ must be such a common term that everyone, even non-lawyers know its definition. Right? I mean, a few might not but prolly 90 to 95% of Dopers must know it. > > I mean, I don’t know it but I’m pretty dumb. So this is super-nice because now I get to look it up! > > Imagine if everyone defined the foreign and jargon terms they posted here. That would be awful because then I’d never get to look it up on Google. Because, again, asking “What does _nolle pros_ mean?” is one thing. Even if it can be readily googled, it’s at least in line with the discussion. But… FFS. That diatribe? And people say I’m the one falling below the “standard for intelligent discourse” here? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/36 "2021-05-29T05:06:55Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Because, again, asking “What does _nolle pros_ mean?” is one thing. Even if it can be readily googled, it’s at least keeping the discussion on track. In this case, it maybe did make more sense for readers to just google the legal terminology rather than the poster define it in-thread. But 99 times out of 100, that’s not the case here. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/37 "2021-05-29T05:08:59Z")
But—and here a look at **ILMVI** ’s posting history re: acronyms may be helpful—every time that “1 out of 100” comes up, it seems **ILMVI** is that 1. **ILMVI** : 1% of the time, it’s them EVERY time. ^That could be their sig line (if we had sig lines). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/38 "2021-05-29T05:14:11Z")
^^ And? He’s saying what many others are thinking. Wait, I can think of _many_ times other people have had to ask what certain acronyms mean. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/39 "2021-05-29T05:19:16Z")
And WTF is _ASL\_v2.0_ supposed to mean? American sign language? Above sea level? Age/sex/location? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142/40 "2021-05-29T05:32:45Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > A reader shouldn’t have to ask what an acronym means, that forces them to surrender agency, giving the acronym flaunter ‘power over’, which usually feels like the point. Don’t be a jerk applies here. It’s an interesting observation that people sometimes use jargon as a power play, to signal their elite expert status. But I’m also astonished at how _oblivious_ so many people are to the fact that the whole world does not have the same context and priorities as they do. You see this in mysterious abbreviations that are not power plays but just oblivious to the need to communicate clearly; you see it in how useless so many people are at writing a thread title that clearly and succinctly states what their thread is about. Ironically, you also see it in overly _longwinded_ OPs that woefully misjudge how much time the average person is likely to want to devote to reading about something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-ilmvi-for-complaining-incessantly-about-acronyms/943142.md?page=3)