Alexis Senge JohnsonI work with a company that is acronym heavy and I’m sure someone reading my emails, text messages or inter-company messenger would think I can’t form complete words. Between using acronyms all day at work and abbreviations in my personal electronic communications during my off hours, I’m not so sure that those out there creating acronyms are really developing all the necessary ones that are needed for me to properly respond to others. For instance, “LOL” (laughing out loud) or “LMAO” (laughing my @$$ off) are great for something that’s really funny, but what am I supposed to write when the retort was only mildly funny and got a chuckle out of me? “COL” (chuckling out loud)? Is that when “Ha!” is more appropriate? After all, I’m not actually laughing out loud so why respond with “LOL” when that’s not actually the case.
If there is the need for the acronym “ALOL” (actually laughing out loud) then that means people are acknowledging that they are generally misdescribing their reaction when they use “LOL.” Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this or maybe I prefer to not be electronically lying about my reactions to what people have sent to me. I’m sure the American Association Against Acronym Abuse (AAAAA) would have something to say about my complaint. NetLingo.com has WAY too many acronyms listed. Many that are pointless and others that I’ve never heard of people using, so I don’t think I would know what someone was talking about if they sent it to me. Have you ever sent something funny and had someone reply with “TAKS” (that’s a knee slapper)? Heck no! You know what? 1.) Unless you’re a dad, most people don’t use that phrase and 2.) no one knows that is supposedly a commonly used electronic communication shorthand.
As much as “WDALYIC” (who died and left you in charge) or “YRYOCC” (you’re running on your own coocoo clock) might seem like an appropriate response to someone, I guarantee the person receiving it would wonder if you sneezed or experienced a seizure while writing because they wouldn’t know what on earth they stood for. Come on now! What’s up with all the crazy acronyms? Even more importantly, why would I need to know the abbreviation about coocoo clocks when I’ve never used the full phrase ever when speaking to someone? That just seems unnecessary and a bit ridiculous, don’t you think? Is there an acronym you use frequently that others might not know of? I’m intrigued to know which ones might be part of daily electronic conversations for some that many of us have never heard of.
