There have been several blog entries of late that have discussed the pro's and con's of abbreviations. Some hate 'em, some love 'em. Me, I'm fine with most of the common ones (TTC, TWW and the like), but find myself needing an abbreviations dictionary to make out some of them. It makes me feel like I did when I was a kid and I asked my mom how to spell something and she'd say "go look it up in the dictionary". Duh! Don't I have to know how to spell it to look it up?
Anyway, I thought I'd share one pet peeve of mine that relates a bit to the use of abbreviations. My pet peeve is "IM speak". It's when someone uses the abbreviations you might use to send a text message on your phone or in an IM chat BUT it's used to convey information in a forum, email or any professional communication. I cruise quite a few technical blogs and forums that relate to my job. The amount of IM speak I find is astounding! It gets so bad at times that I need a translator to be able to decipher what the person is saying. And...it annoys the crap out of me. I actually found a site that can do translations from normal text to IM speak and back. I'm sure this site was meant to be a funny thing but I actually find I use it from time to time to translate IM speak into something I can actually read!
The worst case I ever encountered was on a resume I received for a job opening with my company. The guy had sent in his resume via email. The email (his substitute for a cover letter) was totally overflowing with IM speak. Things like 'I wud b a g8 aDitN 2 yor team' and 'I M avail. 2 spk w U @ yor earliest convenience' were in the text! Can you even believe someone would send a professional resume with that kind of crap in the introduction? Needless to say the whole thing went into the trash without a glance at the actual resume!
Anyway, I just finished adding a few new technical blogs to my daily surf list and noticed in many of the comments on a couple of them in particular the excessive use of IM speak and it sent me on this rant.
I'll now return you to your previously scheduled preggo and loving it blog content...
Wendy has been pretty sick recently and is maintaining a pretty good humor despite the daily battles with nausea and barfing. She still is able to smile and say "I think the baby is just fine". That's my girl! Hang in there honey!
Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes my way. Wendy took me out for dinner and ice cream and I had a good day all in all. I'm certainly looking forward to being able to celebrate birthdays and holidays with our new little one. Every "special" day seems so much more enchanting and fun through the eyes of a child!
- Karen
[10w,2d]
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
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3 comments:
I like some abbreviations but you're right, there's a time and place for it. That's insane that someone would think it's acceptable to put it in a professional email or cover letter! People are weird.
Glad you had a great birthday. Sorry that Wendy's still so sick. Just think, the 2nd trimester is almost here and hopefully she will be like most pregnant women and start to feel much better. I know I did and the 2nd trimester has been a breeze!!!
Amen on your stance about the IM speak. To be honest, I can't really stomach it even within the context of an IM. And putting it in a resume! That's the equivalent of wearing sweatpant to an interview, in my opinion!
That's amazing. But I will tell you that my mother received a copy of a letter that her LAWYER sent to someone with the word August not capitalized, several times. I couldn't believe it.
Maybe Wendy should talk to Dr. H and ask if maybe she needs a little something for the sickness?
Happy belated Birthday! As soon as Wendy is feeling better, let's get together.
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