Acronym Addicts, Be Gone

What is the acronym problem and how do we fall into it?

You have almost certainly come across people who use abbreviations and acronyms in their interactions. They often use initials as shorthand (that's what acronyms are), which works well when everyone understand what those initials stand for. But often not everyone does, which means that either time needs to be taken to explain the meaning, or someone is not going to completely understand what is said.

You probably use acronyms also. They have a place when you are sure that everyone knows the meaning, as would be the case if you were talking to a group of people attending the EIEIO conference, where you'd expect that all the people would know what the letters stand for (that IS an assumption, however). However if you use acronyms in less homogeneous situations, you're liable to create glitches in your communication.

So why do people do it? Language is shorthand, but there is a human tendency to make it even shorter hand. We tire of saying certain phrases over and over again, and almost automatically make them shorter or refer to them with initials. But we forget that not everyone shares the same understanding -- we assume.