Tuesday, February 23, 2016

She walks like a bearded rainbow (Cream)

I am not a fan of abbreviating words. I don't know why. I'm just not.

Add it to my pet peeves: drill down, skin in the game, stick to the knitting, baby and bathwater, moving forward, unpack et al.

My hackles (erectile hairs on the back of my neck) are often raised in the jargon filled teacher-speak world I live in. 

Three abrevs have surfaced this week: arvo, comms and comp. Ick times three.

Afternoon to 'arvo' is, clearly, the result of letting Australians loose on the Queen's English. Enough said.

Comp (because competition is so hard to say) and comms - don't get me started...oh, but I have though, haven't I.

I've started so I'll finish.

Communications has five syllables and so reducing it to one may seem an appropriate thing to do. Yeah nah, I disagree.

It's all about being precise and using the long form is the opposite of laziness to my mind.

When people say comms they are usually using short hand for the full title: a Communication and Information bureau/ department. I would advise bypassing the tautology and say simply, 'communications'. I can live with that, but not comms!

BTW (LOL) - I'm also the guy who when ordering at the McDonald's drive through says, "I'll have three soft serve cones please".

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