AWOL

 

AWOL

Acronyms are sometimes misleading, but often amusing.

I’m not really AWOL, that is, ‘absent without leave,’ because AFAIK (as far as I know) I don’t need any BYL (by your leave) to post on my own blog.

IMHO (in my humble opinion) it’s usually advisable to follow the advice to KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and not release TMI (too much information)

 IDK (I don’t know) how many people are subject to FOMO (fear of missing out) and TBH (to be honest), FYI (for your information) it’s NOMB (none of my business)

 LMK (let me know) if you have any favourite acronyms or if you regard them as a waste of time and effort (WOTAE)

Making up my own, now (MUMO) so it’s time to go (TTG)

TTFN (ta-ta for now)

Mnemonics

 

Mnemonics

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Mnemonics are techniques or tricks to aid memory. One well-known to those who have had piano lessons is ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit’ for the notes on the lines of the treble clef – E, G, B, D, F. To remember the spaces of the bass clef, A, C, E, G, the mnemonic is ‘All Cows Eat Grass’.

Mnemonics take many forms. For children it may be a song to learn the alphabet, for example, or an acronym in sentence form to remember the colours of the rainbow – Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. It might be a word – HOMES, to recall the names of the North American Great Lakes – Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie. Superior.

It could be a list, like ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ to remember the fate of Henry VIII’s six wives.

Can’t remember how many days there are in each month? There’s a rhyme to help.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November,

All the rest have thirty-one

Except for February alone,

And that has twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

I’ve just learnt a new mnemonic, which is easier and involves the knuckles of the hand. Starting with the left hand and the first fist knuckle, January (31 days), depression between the knuckles, February (not 31 or 30 days, so has to be remembered along with the leap year bit!), second knuckle, March (31), second depression, April, (30) and so on across the knuckles. Of course, there is a spare depression and knuckle at the end!

Spelling can often be helped with a mnemonic – ‘Big Elephants Can’t Always Use Small Elevators’ spells ‘because’, or, a particular favourite from the film ‘Matilda’ – ‘Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs F, F, I, Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs L, T, Y.’

A mnemonic might be a little rhyme to aid spelling – ‘i before e, except after c’, although there are many exceptions to that rule. Sometimes, the first part is followed by, ‘Or when sounded as ‘a’, as in neighbour and weigh’.

A mnemonic can help in distinguishing homophones – is it here or hear? ‘I hear with my ear’. Should it be which or witch? ‘The witch had an itch.’

Once past primary age and into secondary school and beyond, mnemonics take on a wider-ranging cast, in electrical engineering, geology, physics, chemistry, foreign languages – it seems that many disciplines benefit from an aide-memoire. Are they necessary (one collar, two sleeves) or superfluous?

Acronyms

Acronyms are a way of referring to an organisation or item without repeating the whole title and they have a useful purpose when universally understood. I suppose that every adult in the English-speaking world knows that NATO is the short form of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and UFO means Unidentified Flying Object. BBC can trip up some people as can NASA but we have a general idea what they mean.

Sometimes, though, acronyms are a means of excluding people from conversation or perhaps of discovering those who may share an interest. SLRs are significant for photographers and LEDs are important to those of an electronic bent, while SENCO is used in educational circles. Just occasionally acronyms are used to baffle, to prove superiority of knowledge or experience, or perhaps are an indication of the user's inability to appreciate the exclusivity of the initials he is using.

The CEO of HFC had arranged to meet the MD in the bar of a pub in WGC. They needed to reach agreement ASAP on the MO they were planning for the introduction of PAYE for the new company. The PM had told the MPs that HMG had a vested interest in the venture and assured them that HRH was also paying close attention.

I recently attempted to read a true story of derring-do which was littered with acronyms. The book had a glossary of terms but after a few pages I was thoroughly tired of referring to it and had lost all patience with the narrative. What had started as an interesting if not very well-written tale had quickly become a source of irritation and I could no longer force myself to persevere with it.