So, FAWC, TIA for BUMPs.  I know some say they are TL;DR but TBH IDC! IMO, and FWIW, people don’t read, investigate, and think enough anymore.  People will say DBMIB, but I think they’re sleeping on them. IDC if you totes bet or not, I’m just hoping that they might get people thinking and talking.

For anyone who isn’t slay (my generation would have said “cool”) this is what I just wrote:

So, for anyone who cares (FAWC), thanks in advance (TIA) for bringing up my posts (BRMPs).  I know some say they are too long; didn’t read (TL;DR) but to be honest (TBH) I don’t care (IDC)!  In my opinion (IMO), and for what it’s worth (FWIW), people don’t read, investigate, and think enough anymore.  People will say don’t bother me I’m busy (DBMIB), but I think they’re overlooking their value (sleeping on).  I don’t care (IDC) if you completely (totes) agree (bet) or not, I’m just hoping that they might get people thinking and talking.

…that was really hard to do!

In case you haven’t already figured it out, I am not a big fan of most contemporary terms, abbreviations and acronyms that take the place of a well worded phrase.  Oh, I know that some folks say I am VAR (“verbose and redundant”, I created this one myself) but I see language and writing as a way to create an image, emotion, and / or thought in a person’s head.  As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  As such, I believe that you need to provide details in words and punctuation to ensure that the reader fully understands what you are trying to communicate (e.g. “Let’s eat Grandma.” Or “Let’s eat, Grandma.”).

Today I spent some time thinking about this and also did some research on the latest acronyms and slang terms.  Here’s some examples of what I found, and what I think:

• In a previous blog I stated that I did not understand why some people are “anti-woke”. However, this doesn’t mean I like the term.  I actually find “woke” to be a bit harsh and easily manipulated.  As a result, I believe that there is no consistent, accepted, understood definition for woke and this leads to many of the problems.  As I pointed out, some politicians hate the word woke and have described it as a more dangerous virus than the pandemic.  Now, do your really think anyone would oppose “awareness and concern over social issues including racism, sexism, the marginalizing of various entities, and inequality in general”?  Because that’s the best definition I can come up with for the term.  If people just took the time to spell out exactly what they were for or against it would make things a lot easier and clearer.
• I came upon the acronym “ILY” and found out that it means “I love you”. Do you really, really love someone when you can’t be bothered to spell it out?  Even the phrase “I love you” is an abbreviation and doesn’t express the extent of that love.  I don’t know whether any of you have ever read Elizabeth Barret Browning’s Sonnet 43, “How Do I Love Thee?”, and I won’t include it all here for fear that you’ll quit reading.  However, here’s just a small portion, “…I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God chooses, I shall but love thee better after death.”  Now that’s love!  There is no misunderstanding possible and if it doesn’t make you a bit emotional, I feel sorry for you.
• I found out that there is an abbreviation for “wait”, “W8”. Do we really need to have an abbreviation over two extra characters.  Is this really an undue burden?
• Did you know that “ADIH” stands for “another day in hell”. As such, I automatically assumed that ADIP stands for “another day in paradise”.  Wrong!  I found out that ADIP stands for “annoying, difficult, irascible and pestilent” (I wonder why they have a picture of me next to the definition?).
• Now let’s talk about commercials! I don’t need commercials that warn me about the dangers of AMD that could lead to GA, which then require me to look everything up so that I know that “age related macular degeneration could lead to geographic atrophy.”  Couldn’t they have just used the phrases so I could understand the message without performing a research project?  Oh, and don’t even get me started on men with PD or ED!  No, I’m not going to discuss it.  You can look them up for yourself.  (By the way, they now have drugs for ED that can potentially have a side effect where it causes certain things to last for more than four hours.  According to the commercial, if this happens you are supposed to call your doctor.  Heck, if this ever happened to me, I’d be calling everybody!)
• Finally, I spend a good bit of time each morning reading the news feed on my phone. In preparation for this article, I took a quick scan of headlines and found the following acronyms included:  NYFW, RHOBH, LBD, RHOSLC, MAGA, CMS, RINO, and SEC.  Once again, this can cause me to look things up or delve into the article to find out what the acronym means / relates to.  Bottom line, I don’t really care about “New York Fashion Week” and I don’t appreciate having to delve into the article because the headline refers to a bomb shell at NYFS.  Heck, I thought it may be an article about minefields in Ukraine.  Further, some of these acronyms don’t even follow the rule of using a letter for each word.  Did you know that “CMS” stands for “Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services”.  Shouldn’t it at least be CMMS if not CFMAMS?

OK, I’ll quit venting.

I could close this blog with the all-too-common parting used today, “bye”.  However, I think I will use a parting phrase I particularly like, “Though miles may lie between us, we are never far apart, for friendship doesn’t count miles, it’s measured by the heart.” (unknown)