Author Topic: Acronyms  (Read 6696 times)

Velax

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Acronyms
« Topic Start: November 22, 2012, 05:43:47 PM »
I've been wondering, did they use acronyms in medieval times? I see people using acronyms for army names, or IC referring to "SA" on Dwilight, and it doesn't strike me as at all medieval. But I have no specific knowledge to back up that feeling.

vonGenf

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #1: November 22, 2012, 05:47:29 PM »
After all it's a roleplaying game.

Anaris

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #2: November 22, 2012, 10:08:41 PM »
Please do separate acronyms—which, properly, are abbreviations you can pronounce, like AIDS, JAG, or RAF—from simple abbreviations.

The former date back pretty much all the way. The latter, so far as I know, are a relatively recent thing.
Timothy Collett

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Penchant

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #3: November 23, 2012, 12:01:58 AM »
Please do separate acronyms—which, properly, are abbreviations you can pronounce, like AIDS, JAG, or RAF—from simple abbreviations.

The former date back pretty much all the way. The latter, so far as I know, are a relatively recent thing.
How do you pronounce SPQR?
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Anaris

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #4: November 23, 2012, 12:04:48 AM »
How do you pronounce SPQR?

Blargh. Please reverse "former" and "latter" in my previous message.

Apparently stuffing myself with Thanksgiving food wraps my brain in fluff.
Timothy Collett

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Penchant

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #5: November 23, 2012, 12:09:41 AM »
Blargh. Please reverse "former" and "latter" in my previous message.

Apparently stuffing myself with Thanksgiving food wraps my brain in fluff.
I hope you had, and continue to have a happy thanksgiving.  To clarify, SA and 'moot are ok, but something like RAF is something modern and thus not ok for Dwilight?
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Anaris

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #6: November 23, 2012, 12:18:05 AM »
I hope you had, and continue to have a happy thanksgiving.  To clarify, SA and 'moot are ok, but something like RAF is something modern and thus not ok for Dwilight?

Basically, don't look specifically for abbreviations you can pronounce. "Backronyms" like the "USA PATRIOT Act," where you decide on what it should be pronounced as and then work out what each letter stands for, are the worst.

There's not really a problem with "R. A. F." as an abbreviation for "Royal Air Force" (aside from the fact than an air force wouldn't exist ;D ); you just shouldn't have people pronouncing it as "Raf".
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

egamma

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #7: November 23, 2012, 03:38:55 AM »
In other words, pronouncing it "ess ay" is fine, but calling it "sah" is not.

Ketchum

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #8: November 23, 2012, 03:48:40 AM »
How about PCMUS?

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Chenier

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #9: November 23, 2012, 03:56:40 AM »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPQR

It's old.

Can you find another example?

Roman Empire isn't really BM's setting. And it's the sole pre-modern case that I was aware of in general, too.
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Gustav Kuriga

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #10: November 23, 2012, 08:04:05 AM »
This won't solve anything, but I found it interesting...

the world's longest acronym, according to the Guinness Book of World Records is NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT (Нииомтплабопармбетжелбетрабсбомонимонконотдтехстромонт). The 56-letter acronym (54 in Cyrillic) is from the Concise Dictionary of Soviet Terminology and means "The laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building-assembly operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for building mechanization and technical aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

The card-game Magic The Gathering has a playing card called Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental, with text on it saying: "Just call it OMRSTPLRLCNSWMTCTHTALCNEE for short."

vonGenf

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #11: November 23, 2012, 08:52:29 AM »
Can you find another example?

Roman Empire isn't really BM's setting. And it's the sole pre-modern case that I was aware of in general, too.

Writing in medieval times used lots of abbreviations, partly because much of what you need to write in things like books of prayers and church rolls are formulaic, but also because ink and parchment or vellum were extremely expensive.

You can find here a list of common medieval abbreviations, around half of which are not really abbreviations but acronyms:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01022a.htm
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Poliorketes

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #12: November 23, 2012, 01:22:27 PM »
Mmmm... Medieval Acronyms?... Yes, Abbreviations and Acronyms were used for almost all kind of things.

I have a medieval crux with these inscriptions:

__C__
__S__
NDSMD
__M__
__L__

And with SMQLIVB - VRSNSMV all around.


Anaris

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #13: November 27, 2012, 01:43:47 PM »
Mmmm... Medieval Acronyms?... Yes, Abbreviations and Acronyms were used for almost all kind of things.

I have a medieval crux with these inscriptions:

__C__
__S__
NDSMD
__M__
__L__

And with SMQLIVB - VRSNSMV all around.

Yes, but nobody would try to pronounce those as words. Which makes them period-appropriate abbreviations, not much-more-modern acronyms.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Gustav Kuriga

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Re: Acronyms
« Reply #14: November 27, 2012, 05:08:24 PM »
Yes, but nobody would try to pronounce those as words. Which makes them period-appropriate abbreviations, not much-more-modern acronyms.

*points to the link from vongenf up above* seems you ignored that extensive list.