Further investigation shows that this is indeed the case.
But it’s automatic ! Doing it manually is open to ABUSE
Googling
XYZ acronym
almost invariably gets you quickly to the correct result with short acronyms, even without adding context like “car”. I believe it works with every example mentioned in this thread.
I can highlight a word, right-click, and “Define” appears in the contextual menu. MS Edge in Windows 11 on a desktop PC.
I don’t know about other browsers, operating systems, or devices.
Further to this: by the time you complain, or even ask in the thread, you could look it up yourself. Then, if you want to throw shade on the poster who used the acronym without defining it, you can post "For those, like me, who didn’t know, “BOLO” means “be on the lookout.” Mildly annoying to everyone else, but still making your point. Which I assume was to be mildly annoying.
Full disclosure: if you search my posting history, you will find instances where I complained about unexplained initialisms or acronyms. I think it was reading that pit thread that cured me of that forever.
I only have one request.
Please don’t use acronyms you’ve invented. We can’t look them up.
While this seems like a silly request, there are posters on this board who actually do that. I’d say it’s close to a violation of the rule that you need to post in English, unless you provide a translation, because you’re practically making up your own language.
I think a plug in would be great. Ninety-nine percent of the time I visit the Dope I’m on either my phone or my tablet, which makes right clicking to highlight kind of impossible.
There are important exceptions to this.
I’ve seen many threads started by people on plumbing or electricity or cars or a hundred other things who aren’t already experts and who don’t know the vocabulary. Vocabulary is a broader category than just acronyms. ( NPT stands for National Pipe Tapered threads, also known as ANSI/ASME B1.20.1 pipe threads, says Google. Whoosh at 30,000 ft to me.) If a thread is started by an obvious notice, I’d recommend that the polite thing to do is spell out everything even when the experienced think it’s obvious.
That’s what we’re taught in Journalism classes: Define the term on first use, then use the shorthand version. It’s up to the writer to communicate clearly with the audience.
Yes, specific to the default browser on Android. But it’s just a shortcut to going to Google and searching for “Define BOLO”.
He was JFKing (just effing kidding!)
I can positively state this doesn’t work in Chrome on a Windows 10 laptop. I just tried it.
I got two references explaining the BOLO acronym on the first page of Google search results for BOLO, though APB was explained at the top of the page for a corresponding search.
True, not everyone is a “Dragnet” fan.
OK, I see that now in Edge. Chrome (for PCs at least) doesn’t have that feature.
For ICE, the top hits using this method are Immigration and Customs Enforcement, In Case of Emergency, Information Center for the Environment, Intercontinental Exchange. For BDA, I get a whole assortment of results, but bomb damage assessment isn’t on the first page. I think providing context (via a keyword or two) gives more focused search results.
No, on an Android phone you can highlight text and click the Define icon that comes up (sorta like a right click menu). But what this option DOES is simply open a new tab to Google with a search for the phrase “Define BOLO” prepopulated.
This is functionaly identical to going to Google and typing in “Define BOLO” in the Search window.
Just hold your finger to a word for a couple seconds.
Sure, it doesn’t hurt. But I have found that explicitly using the word “acronym” is the best starting point when searching, especially for short acronyms that may also be words in some language.
By just googling “ICE acronym” witout additional context I see “Internal Combustion Engine” on the 4th google hit on the front page.
By just googling “BDA acronym” without additional conext I see “Battle Damage Assessment” on the 3rd hit on the front page.
Both of those results are visible without even clicking through the links into lists of acronyms. It would have taken me under 10 seconds to decipher any of the acronyms on this page by just googling “XYZ acronym”.
Just in case someone doesn’t know…what you get for [a specific search] might not be the same as someone else, even if both are using the same browser or search engine. Your search results are tempered by multiple factors, many of which are not readily revealed to you. Some of these include:
- Your browsing history
- Your location
- The current date and time
- Your age (or apparent age)
- Your personal settings
- Unknown factors
True enough, but I really doubt that there is much personalized tuning of results for something like “ICE acronym”. Every hit on my front page is from a dictionary or an abbreviation/acronym list, plus ice.gov.
The biggest difference in search output is probably whether you are on a phone or laptop, just because of the real estate that is visible.
OK, how did you do that?
<abbr title="Best of Law & Order">BOLO</abbr>