# Intentional misunderstandings of acronyms **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733 "2022-07-10T22:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/1 "2022-07-10T22:42:54Z")
Based on a pit thread I don’t want to link to (but the software def wants to link to), I thought of what might be a fun game. Here’s how it goes: Poster 1: Post an acronym, preferably one that most folks know. Poster 2: Intentionally misunderstand the acronym, and post a response to the misunderstanding, _without explaining what you thought it was_. Poster 3: Identify the misunderstanding, and then post a new acronym. Example: Poster 1: CIA Poster 2: Sure, but that psychotic doll will probably show up tomorrow. Poster 3: Chucky Is Absent! Anyway, ROFL. What do y’all think? Anyway, ROFL. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/2 "2022-07-10T22:48:03Z")
I was only telling a joke: I don’t know what a Read Only Firmware Library has to do with it! Anyway, IYKYK. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/3 "2022-07-10T22:52:55Z")
I think this’ll be more fun if, instead of posting your intentional misunderstanding, you give enough clues in your response that a third poster gets to guess what it was. Does that make sense? Look at poster 2 in the example. (Unless you’re doing some super meta intentional misunderstanding of the “intentional misunderstandings of acronyms” game, in which case WTG) ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/4 "2022-07-10T23:02:43Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > WTG I wish we were allowed. With the hosepipe ban in this drought, my beautiful plants are dying. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/5 "2022-07-10T23:13:22Z")
Yeah, then, you probably shouldn’t Water The Grass. TIA for understanding the game! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/6 "2022-07-10T23:24:09Z")
There is nothing frivolous or game-like about someone having a stroke. Sheesh! You folks are barbarians. I’m thinking this latest MacGyvering calls for 90 MPH tape. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/7 "2022-07-10T23:50:59Z")
You are apparently having a Transient Ischemic Attack that has caused you to misunderstand the rules, so I will gloss over the fact that you have posted as both Poster 2 and Poster 3. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > MPH I do so love him as he runs on his little wheel with his chubby cheeks! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/8 "2022-07-10T23:53:15Z")
My Pet Hamster does that too! Mine is obviously the best hamster in the world, but obviously YMMV. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/9 "2022-07-10T23:57:54Z")
[ It’s probably worth noting that the rules maybe are a bit confusing. The way I envision what you meant, after the initial post there will be no “Poster 1” posts, we will just be going back and forth between poster 2 and poster 3 roles, correct? - deliberate misunderstanding of XYZ - identify misunderstanding of XYZ, new acronym ABC - deliberate misunderstand of ABC - identify misunderstanding of ABC, new acronym DEF etc ] ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/10 "2022-07-10T23:59:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > [It’s probably worth noting that the rules maybe are a bit confusing. The way I envision what you meant, after the initial post there will be no “Poster 1” posts, we will just be going back and forth between poster 2 and poster 3 roles, correct?] [Yep, that’s right. Poster 3 offers a new acronym, and then the next poster -4?- misunderstands it, and then 5 explains the misunderstanding and offers a new one, and then 6 misunderstands the new one, and so on. I _think_ the fun shows up in the guessing what the misunderstanding was, not just in the misunderstanding, so the alternation should happen.] ---
**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:** [July 11, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/11 "2022-07-11T00:01:03Z")
[Yes - I was trying to make the early misunderstandings very easy, so we get into the flow of things. As they get more obscure, I think it will get very entertaining.] ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/12 "2022-07-11T00:13:18Z")
I understood the three-poster format but wanted to test-hop a different game format. Which I then didn’t actually answer correctly according to my own subversive imaginary rules. In the variation I imagined, a poster should decode the misunderstanding from 2 posts above, misunderstand the new acronym from the post immediately above, and propose a new one. So each poster and each post gets to play all 3 roles involving 3 different acronyms. That may or may not be simple enough for us to keep straight either. Sorry to hijack. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/13 "2022-07-11T00:18:16Z")
Getting back to the game as posted, not the rule hijack … > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My Pet Hamster does that too! Mine is obviously the best hamster in the world, but obviously YMMV. In Yugoslavia, License Inspektor gets you. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/14 "2022-07-11T00:23:59Z")
Everyone is so concerned about the Spanish Inquisition these days that nobody expects the Yugoslavian Ministry of Motor Vehicles. I’m gong to check that my license hasn’t expired, BRB. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/15 "2022-07-11T02:24:46Z")
Bravo, OP! This is a playful, yet effective way to highlight the problem with posters employing rarely-used initialisms without first explaining what they stand for. Your OP asks for _well-known_ initialisms presumably because one needs to know what it stands for in order to make or understand the joke. That’s just a teensy-weensy bit like the notion that one needs to know what a given initialism stands for in order to understand the post. Clever and ironic. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/16 "2022-07-11T03:10:55Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > This is a playful, yet effective way to highlight the problem with posters employing rarely-used initialisms without first explaining what they stand for. It’s really not, and if you think it is, you’re def not getting it. If you’re not interested in playing, that’s cool, but I’d rather you not turn this into a fake agreement with your pet peeve–a peeve I do not share at all. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/17 "2022-07-11T08:30:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m gong to check that my license hasn’t expired, BRB. …are a total pain. How is a blindside flanker supposed to score a try if they’ve got holes in them? ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/18 "2022-07-11T18:21:17Z")
Well, I’m probably not playing this right, but: I still take a momentary program check when someone says “LOL”, because my family used it in email from about 1980 on, with its original meaning. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/19 "2022-07-11T18:35:13Z")
Not playing the game for a moment > [@phs3](#): > > program check Now that’s a phrase I’ve not heard in a long time. A very long time. 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 11, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733/20 "2022-07-11T18:45:20Z")
> [@WalterBishop](#): > > …are a total pain. How is a blindside flanker supposed to score a try if they’ve got holes in them? Burst rugby balls are the _bête noire_ of the sport. I feel the RFU should take action. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intentional-misunderstandings-of-acronyms/967733.md?page=2)