stop with the unexplained acronyms !

[Lynn McGuire]

Stop with the unexplained acronyms ! I am reading "Thirteen" by Richard
K. Morgan right now. He is throwing around COLIN and UNGLA like I
should know what these mean. I have no freaking idea except COLIN has
something to do with the Mars colonization effort and UNGLA might have
something to do with the UN. If you are going to use acronyms in your
book then please provide a glossary !
https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Richard-K-Morgan/dp/0345480899/

Lynn

[Robert Carnegie]

It's a bit of a thing in Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London"
series, where a lot of the acronyms are British police terms
like POLSA, which I think is "police search advisor",
a forensic procedure specialist. But then you get a forensic
wizard (really) checking for magic by doing an IVA,
Initial Vestigia Assessment. In book, most police don't
like the "m" word, and probably are more comfortable with
an acronymic second language where you can not admit that
that's what you're talking about. Magic objects and people
have also been called "special", and magic in general called
"weird bollocks" - sorry.

[Quadibloc]

On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 11:48:31 AM UTC-6, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Stop with the unexplained acronyms ! I am reading "Thirteen" by Richard
> K. Morgan right now.

I did some Googling, and found reviews of the book.

Its original title in Britain was "Black Man" - black in the same sense as
a 'black op' being a covert operation - but as the title could give offence,
or at the least, cause confusion, in the United States, it was changed for
that market.

COLIN is apparently the United Nations COLonial INitiative Authority, and
UNGLA is the United Nations Genetic Legislation Authority.

John Savard

[Lynn McGuire]

Thanks ! I could have googled that but I was too torqued about the
unexplained acronyms as it is a very common problem across science fiction.

Lynn

[Default User]

Quadibloc wrote:

>COLIN is apparently the United Nations COLonial INitiative Authority,
>and UNGLA is the United Nations Genetic Legislation Authority.

In his book Thin Air, he mentions COLIN. He more or less defines it in
that one:


PARTICLE SLAM DUNK—GET WET, WHY DON’T YOU! A JOINT CODING VENTURE,
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PARTICLE SLAM, IN CAPITAL PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COLONY
INITIATIVE.
Yeah, COLIN strikes again—ubiquitous, all-powerful corporate midwives
to mankind in space.


UNGLA doesn't appear.


Brian

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <shrdor$oe4$1...@dont-email.me>,

I take it for granted that everybody else on the Internet uses
acronyms that I never heard of, and if I want to understand them
I have to google for them. Usually I can find them, and then I
usually forget about them.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

[Lynn McGuire]

I know it, I was ranting. I was just glad to have power this morning,
hurricane Nicholas went over us at 4 am. Our home generator ran until
11 am apparently.

Lynn

[peterw...@hotmail.com]

Many years ago I read, in the letters section of _Analog_ magazine, about a then-new organization
dedicated to fighting this very problem: SAFEBAGEL (Scientists Against Far-out, Extensive,
Burdensome Acronyms Getting Entrenched in Language). Perhaps it's time to revive this.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <shrquq$po4$1...@dont-email.me>,

Do you have power now (other than the generator)?

Fingers crossed for you and your neighbors.

[Lynn McGuire]

We got our power back at 11 am. But there were several generators still
running in our area. When I came home, everyone had power.

Nicholas was not that bad. 75 mph winds gusting to 90 mph for about two
hours.

Ike was freaking nasty (2008). 90+ mph winds gusting to 100+ mph for
eight hours.

Lynn

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <shs0nn$jdc$1...@dont-email.me>,

Glad to hear Nicholas was (relatively) easy on you. My first
reaction, when he appeared on the newswebs, was "Holy Cat!
They're already down to the letter N?"

Do take care, and get the generator re-fueled before whatever
begins with O shows up. As I know you will.

[jack tingle]

You need a FUI, or maybe the DICNAVABS.
Helpfully, Jack Tingle

[Tony Nance]

^^^^^^^^^^
ITYM "HTH, HAND"
- Tony :)

[Tony Nance]

I find https://acronymfinder.com/ to be very helpful.
- Tony

[Paul S Person]

On Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:35:50 -0500, Lynn McGuire

Up hear, we are looking at a normal September storm this weekend --
lots of rain, lots of wind (peaking at 15mph), and snow in the
mountains (which may enable a ski season, pandemic permitting).

The grass will love it. More to the point, so will the trees.

Clearly /nothing/ like Nicholas, never mind Ike.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

[Lynn McGuire]

I have a 38 kw whole house generator that runs on natural gas from my
gas meter. I just got it installed in August, I ordered it last
February, one week before the Texas freeze. It would have been nice to
had it then but, I have it now. It is liquid cooled and quiet.
https://www.winsim.com/generator_corner_finish.jpg

Several of my neighbors are still without power. Apparently most of the
transformers for an entire subdivision of 1,000 homes have shorted out.
The electric company is replacing them as fast as they can ...

Lynn

[Moriarty]

That could backfire on you.

GOATSE

-Moriarty

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <114d5c63-5efb-405f...@googlegroups.com>,

Never saw that one before ....

/google

How immature.

Does anybody remember the comic "Naughty Lenny of Laredo"? He
rode a tricycle and make joked about doggy poop. He was a
takeoff on Lenny Bruce.

Does anybody Remember Lenny Bruce?

In another vein, I recently had to google GOAT. Turns out to
mean "Greatest of All Time," in connection with some sport or
other.

[Kevrob]

I know OF Lenny Bruce.

> In another vein, I recently had to google GOAT. Turns out to
> mean "Greatest of All Time," in connection with some sport or
> other.
> --

As for a "goat" in sports, I grew up reading Bill Gallo's sports cartoons
in the New York Daily News. Heck, I delivered the News for a moment
in the late 60s, on my trusty Schwinn. Gallo did a cartoon for every
World Series game, designating one player the "Hero" and another
the "Goat."

[quote]

In his book, Mickey Mantle expressed how he feared becoming a
goat during World Series time. "I don't ever want to make Gallo's
horns cartoon," he said.

[/quote] -

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/hero-goat-horns-50-article-1.226907

Outside the Series, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich hung the horns
on each other. :)

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/original-wife-swap-yankee-pitchers-trade-lives-article-1.2138703

--
Kevin R

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 10:00:03 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:

[snip]

> Does anybody Remember Lenny Bruce?

[/snip]

Bruce died in 1966, when I was not yet 10, so anything I
saw about him on TV or on film was post-mortem.

There was the 1974 film with Dustin Hoffman and
(hubba! hubba!) Valerine Perrine. Based on the
play.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_(film)

{ObSF/ComicsFilm "Miss Teschmacher !!!!}

--
Kevin R

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <470ca126-11a0-4f99...@googlegroups.com>,

GOAT confused me as well -- It's something Charlie Brown worried about
being a number of times.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Quadibloc]

On Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 1:16:39 AM UTC-6, Kevrob wrote:

> {ObSF/ComicsFilm "Miss Teschmacher !!!!}
And let us not forget Slaughterhouse-Five.

John Savard

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <470ca126-11a0-4f99...@googlegroups.com>,

Close enough. I never met him either, one of life's smaller
blessings.

>
>
>> In another vein, I recently had to google GOAT. Turns out to
>> mean "Greatest of All Time," in connection with some sport or
>> other.
>> --
>
>As for a "goat" in sports, I grew up reading Bill Gallo's sports cartoons
>in the New York Daily News. Heck, I delivered the News for a moment
>in the late 60s, on my trusty Schwinn. Gallo did a cartoon for every
>World Series game, designating one player the "Hero" and another
>the "Goat."

And now it's a title to be striven for.

[Kevrob]

On Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 9:20:03 AM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <470ca126-11a0-4f99...@googlegroups.com>,
> Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> >On Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 10:00:03 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >> In article <114d5c63-5efb-405f...@googlegroups.com>,
> >> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
> >> >On Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 1:25:03 PM UTC+10, Dorothy J
> >Heydt wrote:

[snip]

> >> In another vein, I recently had to google GOAT. Turns out to
> >> mean "Greatest of All Time," in connection with some sport or
> >> other.
> >> --
> >
> >As for a "goat" in sports, I grew up reading Bill Gallo's sports cartoons
> >in the New York Daily News. Heck, I delivered the News for a moment
> >in the late 60s, on my trusty Schwinn. Gallo did a cartoon for every
> >World Series game, designating one player the "Hero" and another
> >the "Goat."
> And now it's a title to be striven for.
> --

Muhammad Ali would call himself "the greatest of ALL time," BITD.

[quote]

The funky delivery, the boasts, the comical trash talk, the endless quotables:
As a rhyming trickster in the early Sixties, the greatest boxer who ever lived
was also a cornerstone in the early development of hip-hop music. “Without
Muhammad Ali, there would be no ‘Mama Said Knock You Out, and the term
G.O.A.T. would have never been coined,” LL Cool J tells Rolling Stone.

[/quote] - Rolling Stone

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/muhammad-ali-worlds-greatest-boxer-was-also-hip-hop-pioneer-152560/

LLCJ released an album entitled G.O.A.T. in 2000, but other
rappers used it first in some tracks.

https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2016/07/goat.html

Which also documents the old style usage going back to 1909.

Lonnie Ali trademarked the term when she formed a company
to manage her husband's image and likeness - then got a big
payday for a huge chunk of it!

https://money.cnn.com/2006/04/11/news/newsmakers/muhammad_ali/

Tip of the ballcap {or Kangol} to:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/08/goat-greatest-of-all-time-origin-muhammad-ali-ll-cool-j

--
Kevin R

[Joy Beeson]

On Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:14:38 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

> I take it for granted that everybody else on the Internet uses
> acronyms that I never heard of, and if I want to understand them
> I have to google for them. Usually I can find them, and then I
> usually forget about them.

I take it for granted that somebody who can't be bothered to define it
on first reference doesn't want me to know.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <cnvfkghic0q32ou6v...@4ax.com>,

Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>On Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:14:38 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>> I take it for granted that everybody else on the Internet uses
>> acronyms that I never heard of, and if I want to understand them
>> I have to google for them. Usually I can find them, and then I
>> usually forget about them.
>
>I take it for granted that somebody who can't be bothered to define it
>on first reference doesn't want me to know.
>

To define one's terms on first reference is certainly the act of
a gentleperson and a scholar.

But too often someone will think, "Oh, everybody knows that one;
I use it every day."

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 9/19/2021 9:43 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <cnvfkghic0q32ou6v...@4ax.com>,
> Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>> On Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:14:38 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>> Heydt) wrote:
>>
>>> I take it for granted that everybody else on the Internet uses
>>> acronyms that I never heard of, and if I want to understand them
>>> I have to google for them. Usually I can find them, and then I
>>> usually forget about them.
>>
>> I take it for granted that somebody who can't be bothered to define it
>> on first reference doesn't want me to know.
>>
> To define one's terms on first reference is certainly the act of
> a gentleperson and a scholar.
>
> But too often someone will think, "Oh, everybody knows that one;
> I use it every day."
>

https://xkcd.com/2501/


--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <si9nls$ede$1...@dont-email.me>,

Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 9/19/2021 9:43 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <cnvfkghic0q32ou6v...@4ax.com>,
>> Joy Beeson <jbe...@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>>> On Wed, 15 Sep 2021 03:14:38 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>>> Heydt) wrote:
>>>
>>>> I take it for granted that everybody else on the Internet uses
>>>> acronyms that I never heard of, and if I want to understand them
>>>> I have to google for them. Usually I can find them, and then I
>>>> usually forget about them.
>>>
>>> I take it for granted that somebody who can't be bothered to define it
>>> on first reference doesn't want me to know.
>>>
>> To define one's terms on first reference is certainly the act of
>> a gentleperson and a scholar.
>>
>> But too often someone will think, "Oh, everybody knows that one;
>> I use it every day."
>>
>https://xkcd.com/2501/
>

Heh, yes, except when they underestimate. When I was about to
have one of my parathyroids out (I still have three), the surgeon
sat me down with pencil and paper and explained that the thyroid
was a butterfly-shaped gland in the throat (he drew a little
picture) and the four parathyroids were set around it. That
much, I already knew. But I just smiled and nodded.

[Paul S Person]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:11:40 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J

I once heard a similar joke involving theologians, but the terms
involved were so highly specialized that I no longer recall what they
were, never mind what they meant.