<VV> Rocket Scientists - acronyms

[mhicks130 at cox.net]

OMFG dude, there's no nazism of any kind here. I didn't say he COULDN'T use acronyms, just that when people use so many, my warning bells go off.  My BS (no translation required I hope) detector gets pegged.  I have found that people who drop lots of obscure acronyms and non-sequitor references are BS-ing their way through something they don't know near as much about as they are claiming.  It aint necessarily so but often as not it's true.

Noone expects you to write out "atomic-absorbtion spectrophotometer" 4 times in a sentance but unless the was in a document specifically pertaining to "atomic-absorbtion spectrophotometer", I would expect the writer to write "atomic-absorbtion spectrophotometer" at least once and THEN use acronyms. Hey, I wrote "atomic-absorbtion spectrophotometer" 3 times in a sentance!  Woo hoo!!

I love cars, I work on my own and yet I had no idea what a THM-400 was.  Did they ever put a THM-400 on a Corvair?  This IS a corvair mail list you know.  If that had been the only acronym in the post I wouldn't have said anything but it was full of such things.  I had to say something, I just HAD to!!  

Good engineers (and technical people in general) can communicate in a way that other people, not just engineers in their field, understand.  It's not black and white, it's not ALL acronyms or NO acronyms - moderation, as usual, is the key.

mike 
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Ah yes......the "Nomenclature Nazi's" strike again!  Those that pedantically
get their shorts in a bunch over acronymes that they make NO attempt to
understand, are welcome to write "atomic-absorbtion spectrophotometer" four
times in a sentence instead of using the industry-standard acronym, "AA"!
I'll bet the poster you're responding to gets confused by contractions too!
>
> OTOH I would expect at least some to know what a THM-400 was

So would I!  BTW (do "net-isms" trip your "indecipherable acronym...warning
bells" as well?)   , got one sitting out in the 1966 Buick Wildcat, attached
to the 425 Nailhead!  Most folks don't know that Buick made a
"pavement-ripper" in the 60's!  Oh, to avoid getting ripped
myself....."THM"="Turbo Hydra-Matic", a registered trademark of General
Motors (I wouldn't THINK of using an acronym like GM!).

hand am not a scientist anyway, am an engineer. Get
> some of my best ideas wandering in a junk yard or listening to people who
> really know. What was that about standing on the shoulders of giants ?

I'm both.....about 5 years worth of it in R&D.....ooooops, that's "Research
and Development" for the "Nomenclature Nazi's"!  Every research project
starts in a library.....a junkyard qualifies.....so does getting "down and
dirty" with any mechanism.  The primary difference between an engineer and
everyone else was adequately summed up by Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock
Holmes, "You see but you do not observe!".  Understanding that you "Insert
Tab A into Slot B" makes you a mechanic......needing to understand why you
do it makes you an engineer.

>
> One thing I have learned about the Internet - ask a question and the
> silence will be deafening. Propose an answer and people will come out of
> the woodwork to correct you.

Ain't that the truth!  Usually by focussing on one tiny peripheral detail
that MIGHT, be in error (or bitching about acronyms).  It's simply a way to
stifle a discussion when you don't know enough to add to it.....including a
touch of "ad hominum" for enphasis ....vandals come in a lot of different
forms.

Rant mode off!  Back to valve-cover racing!

John
'65 Corsa 140 Coupe
'67 Monza 110 Convertible
'69 Monza 110 Coupe
'66 Buick Wildcat 425 Sedan

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