TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2002-11 > 1036425355


From: Lee Hoffman <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] v5.03 Merge Sources Question
Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2002 10:55:55 -0500
References: <FFEBLNNBNENFDKOPJEBPKEOCCPAA.paulharris@nc.rr.com><3DC55E85.5060903@reigelridge.com>
In-Reply-To: <004c01c2840c$05d62730$2a138ea7@computer>


Chuck Prickett wrote:
>I am new to this list so I do not know all of the acronym's used by "older"
>users. I think that before you use acronyms in a message you first identify
>it, there are many CDs i.e. Compact Disk, Certificate of Deposit, Citation
>Detail, etc. It took me a while to find that you were talking about the
>latter, by that time I had lost the intent of the original question. Having
>a military background where they make acronyms of acronyms it can get
>confusing until everyone gets on the same page. ;-)

It is always good to spell out abbreviations and acronyms in messages here
as many do not know them. In the case of CD, however, I wonder why anyone
here would think of Certificate of Deposit. <g> As for Compact Disk, the
abbreviation here is normally not used alone here and is usually followed
within the same sentence by context in which it can be understood to mean
Compact Disk (i.e., insert the CD into the drive, CD-Rom, etc.). On the
other hand, while CD is usually used here to mean Citation Detail, many new
users do not understand the meaning and are left with the only other
possibilities (although Certificate of Deposit is a stretch <g>).

Still, as Chuck has suggested, it would be good if all here would be sure
to 'spell out' any abbreviations and acronyms for at least their first
use. If the item then is used more than once, follow the spelled out entry
with the abbreviation/acronym in parentheses (e.g., List of People (LOP)
report). Then you can use LOP (or whatever) later in the same message to
reduce the typing in the rest of the message.

I seldom include any abbreviations and acronyms regardless of whether they
are related to TMG or not. I also seldom use emoticons (those little
characterizations of faces, such as ;^> ), or other messages short-cuts
(i.e., FWIW [for what its worth], IAC [in any case], BTW [by the way],
etc.) as many new subscribers do not understand them and I (or someone)
usually just have to interpret them in a later message -- meaning as much
or more type than what I saved by their use. About all I use (as it seems
to be fairly universally understood is the grin <g> or a variation of it
<G> to convey that the fore-going sentence should be read in a
light-hearted way.

So, as Chuck has requested, please make sure your messages are
understandable by all subscribers here. Not all of us are old-hands here
and need help getting started. Once we have read a few messages, we can
pick up the meanings quickly. But we are getting new subscribers here
every day and they don't have the advantage that we more experienced users
have.

Thanks -

TMG List Administrator

Lee Hoffman/KY
TMG Tips: <http://www.tmgtips.com>;
My website: <http://www.tmgtips.com/lhoffman>;
A user of the best genealogy program, The Master Genealogist (TMG)

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