The First 'Stack
Resurrecting my earliest post
March 3 is my birthday - yep, today I turned ‘stone age’ years-old! (See what I did there?) As such, I am celebrating by reposting my first Substack… ever. Initially dropped in May of 2022, it was already - and ironically - a repost in of itself, of an article I had written years before.
(The wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round…)
Obviously, at the time I posted this I had not yet found my ‘Stack vibe, nor did I have many subscribers (in fact, I had two). While I have posted links to the original piece over the past two-plus years, I had never dropped a full repost of it… until today.
Enjoy…
Stay in the loop, and fight social-media suppression! Subscribe to The Stone Age today!
Curse of the Acronym
We briefly interrupt our regularly-scheduled shenanigans for this vital (dare I say critical?) announcement: If you are on social media, it is possible - perhaps even likely - that you are using the word ‘acronym’ incorrectly.
It is not your fault - our education system is crazy-lazy, especially when it comes to teaching the proper application of words, and also… well, it just sucks.
However, since everyone desperately wants to sound intelligent on the WWW (not an acronym, BTW - and, for the record, neither is ‘BTW’), here is some knowledge that will impress your friends and baffle your enemies.
The traditional definition (the one found in dictionaries unspoiled by edgy word-predators) says that an acronym is…
“… an abbreviation of several words (organized) in such a way that the abbreviation itself forms a pronounceable word.”
Words such as RADAR, NASA, SCUBA, AIDS and GIF are each a collection of initials, yet when said-initials are mashed together they make actual words which can be, and are, pronounced. These… are acronyms.
FYI, on the other hand, is not a traditional acronym. Neither is FBI, OMG, CDC, USB, or LOL (unless you happen to go around saying ‘lull’ for laughing out loud - if so, seek professional help).
Each of those is an example of an initialism, meaning…
“… an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as separate letters.”
These do not, when joined into one group of letters, make up anything that even vaguely resembles a word - they are just individual letters spoken together.
Initialisms.
Now that we understand this, let us work together to retake the English language from the marauding hordes rampaging the once-great, once-intelligent cyber-plains. Educate your loved ones, skewer (metaphorically, of course; don’t literally impale) those who challenge you - especially the self-righteous ‘grammar Nazis’ - and we shall reclaim the words!
And that concludes this unnecessary but satisfying rant; we now return you to regularly-scheduled shenanigans.
Thank you for your continued support, and - if not already a subscriber - join me as we build a unique Substack subculture of information, entertainment, and enlightenment.
Speaking of words meaning things…
Notes…
-- As mentioned above, this is a repost of a repost, going back to the days of Medium; it has been spruced up multiple times, including for this drop.
-- Unless otherwise credited, all images were generated by the author, using NightCafe, Grok 2, or Substack’s AI Image Tool, with digital alterations when desired or needed.
Happy Birthday, Piscean and thank you for the education.
Happy Birthday! 🙂🎈