# TLAs (Three Letter Abbreviations) - (lame) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326 "2003-08-06T14:23:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/1 "2003-08-06T14:23:31Z")
WTF (What The Fuck) is the point of telling me “Creating TOC (Table Of Contents)” Either use the TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation), or spell the term out in full. OK, I suppose that in a lengthy technical document, it is quite understandable that you’d tell me that CPU means (Central Processing Unit) in the first instance, then use the TLA (three Letter Abbreviation) every time thereafter that you want to talk about the CPU (Central Processing Unit), but using the TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation) and the term in full, each and every time throughout the whole document, or when the term only appears once… Grrr, it’s just totally OTT (Over The Top) and must end RSN (Real Soon Now). ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/2 "2003-08-06T14:28:05Z")
Sometimes they UIL (Use it later). That way, when they UIL you know what they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/3 "2003-08-06T14:31:30Z")
And I _just_ read your **whole** post so never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/4 "2003-08-06T14:31:42Z")
IMT (I Mentioned That) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/5 "2003-08-06T14:37:58Z")
This puts me in mind of Allied Irish Bank. Which calls itself: **AIB Bank** And its ATMs (Automated Transaction Machines) are called Banklinks. So above the ATM (Automated Transaction Machine), it actually says AIB Bank Banklink - or, IOW (Isle of Wight): **Allied Irish Bank Bank Banklink**. ---
**Author:** ![Eilsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Eilsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eilsel)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/6 "2003-08-06T15:05:20Z")
SWL I know what you mean. I hate when I see an acronymn and then an explanation in parens. What’s that all about? I have never ever seen the company use the acronym w/o an explanation ever. Why? Because they’re afraid the NEW customers won’t know what it is. RME ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/7 "2003-08-06T15:06:39Z")
Or (apparently) **NZI Insurance New Zealand Ltd** , properly know as **New Zealand Insurance Insurance New Zealand Ltd** - triple RAS Syndrome. [sub]RAS Syndrome, yes, yes I know[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/8 "2003-08-06T15:18:29Z")
Sounds like someone did a CAP (Copy And Paste) or FAR (Find And Replace) on every TLA (Three Letter Acronym). Kind of annoying but ultimately no BFD (Big Fucking Deal). ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/9 "2003-08-06T15:47:21Z")
Sounds like an excessive case of what I believe is called “mathematicians’ stutter”, as shown in things like: … for a given mass _m_ having velocity _v_ at time _t_, the acceleration _a_ can be found … (etc.[sup]_[/sup], etc.[sup]_[/sup]) [sup]\*[/sup]_Et cetera_🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/10 "2003-08-06T17:35:29Z")
I can’t stand using the TLA then adding the word that the last letter stands for. Example: ATM Machine I know there are more, but I’m far to tired to think past this one. ---
**Author:** ![Hauky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@Hauky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hauky)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/11 "2003-08-06T18:08:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > \*\*Sounds like an excessive case of what I believe is called “mathematicians’ stutter”, as shown in things like: > > … for a given mass _m_ having velocity _v_ at time _t_, the acceleration _a_ can be found … \*\* Sometimes, though, doing that makes sense, mostly when you get into variables that have no obvious relations to what they stand for. _x_ for distance and _p_ (or is it _P_? My last physics class was a while ago) for momentum come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/12 "2003-08-06T19:40:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achren \* > \*\*I can’t stand using the TLA then adding the word that the last letter stands for. > > Example: > ATM Machine > > I know there are more, but I’m far to tired to think past this one. \*\* PIN Number. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/13 "2003-08-06T20:08:22Z")
Dear Forum Posters: Please stop using three-letter abbreviations. TIA, Jackmannii. P.S. It’s always a temptation when someone closes out a question or request with TIA, to respond with “CREF”. ---
**Author:** ![Shabadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Shabadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shabadu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/14 "2003-08-06T22:26:31Z")
The one I think bugged me the most was _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation_. Everytime the commercials came on for that show I wanted to throw something at the TV. Why give something a TLA title and then explain it everytime you say it? It makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/15 "2003-08-06T22:53:08Z")
Ironically, if you didn’t clarify what you meant by TLAs, I would have thought this thread was going to be about the 80’s industrial band, _Teen Lesbians and Animals_, which was usually shortened to TLA. (Against incredible odds, [a Google search](http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22teen+lesbians+and+animals%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search) for “Teen Lesbians and Animals” returns absolutely _no_ hits which don’t relate to the band itself!) ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/16 "2003-08-06T23:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*PIN Number. \*\* Indeed, a _personal_ PIN number. Fortunately, I’ve never seen “personal PIN ID number” but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Perhaps someone was paid by the word? I wonder what the best way is? Maybe mention the expansion the first time, and in a glossary? If it’s online you could even have a link, though that may be OTT. \Incidently, TLA is my favorite example of a homological (self-referential; describing itself) word. [size=1]The antonym is heterological “not describing itself.” A favorite paradox is "Is ‘homological’ homological or heterological? What about ‘heterological’\ Back on track… ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/17 "2003-08-06T23:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shade \* > \*\*Indeed, a _personal_ PIN number. Fortunately, I’ve never seen “personal PIN ID number” but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. > > Perhaps someone was paid by the word? I wonder what the best way is? Maybe mention the expansion the first time, and in a glossary? If it’s online you could even have a link, though that may be OTT. > > \Incidently, TLA is my favorite example of a homological (self-referential; describing itself) word. [size=1]The antonym is heterological “not describing itself.” A favorite paradox is "Is ‘homological’ homological or heterological? What about ‘heterological’\ > > Back on track… \*\* WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/18 "2003-08-06T23:30:38Z")
:smack: never mind. That was supposed to be [size=1]ed. Just something that TLA reminds me of. Move along. Nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tlas-three-letter-abbreviations-lame/193326/19 "2003-08-07T03:32:02Z")
LOL