Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: Difference between revisions

When writers include an overload of acronyms, they usually do so in the hope that you'll end up R.O.T.F.L.O.L.Y.F.A.O. Occasionally they'll thrown in some acronyms that refer to [[Deadly Euphemism|Deadly Euphemisms]]s along with more benign euphemisms in the hopes that you'll do a mental [[Double Take]] and think [[Big OMG|O.M.F.G.]]!

{{quote|'''Adrian Cronauer:''' Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P., shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T.? 'Cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could end up M.I.A., and then we'd all be put out in K.P.<ref> Translation: Seeing as the Vice President is a Very Important Person, shouldn't we keep information about the Press Conference confidential? Because if it leaks to the Viet Cong he could end up Missing In Action, and then we'd all be put to work in the kitchens, or worse.</ref>}}

* In the opening scenes of ''I Was a Male War Bride'' (1949) -- one of the earliest American films to address this trope -- Frenchtrope—French army captain Henri Rochard ([[Cary Grant]]) approaches the guard post at an Allied armed forces office building in post-war Germany. He asks the guard for directions to the "OICAMGWAC". (Being Cary Grant, [[Verbal Tic|he reads it rhythmically and deliberately]] so it sounds like "O.I.C. - A.M.G. - W.A.C.") Directed to the first floor, he finds office doors labeled "WAIRCO" (which he reads as "War Administration Industrial Relations Coordinator's Office") and "SOSDPPDD" ("Service of Supplies Displaced Persons Property Disposal Department") before finding the ladies restroom. He begins to misinterpret this as "Labor Administration Department Inter..." when a WAC ([[wikipedia:Women's Army Corps|Women's Army Corps]]) tech corporal exits. She directs him across the hall to yet another door labeled "CDMTWR". The meanings of the first and last acronyms are not explained.

* The team of ''[[Discworld]]'' wizards who work on [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Hex]] do this a bunch -- Hexbunch—Hex is a computer [[Bamboo Technology|made out of an ant farm and some common household implements]], including an FTB (fuzzy teddy bear), a CWL (clothes wringer from the laundry), and the like. A number of these acronyms are references to real-life ones, generally from computing (such as "FTB", a play on "[[wikipedia:FTP|FTP]]", an Internet protocol).

* ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'': At one point Del Boy insists that "Modern businesspeople only speak in initials!" He initializes everything -- exampleseverything—examples include the GLC: "General 'Lectric Company" and PMA: "Positive Mental Attitude". He also tries to initialize "'''T'''rotter's '''I'''ndependent '''T'''rader's" and Rodney's "'''D'''iploma '''I'''n '''C'''omputerization", the results of which are duly [[Lampshaded|pointed out]].

* And if you think that's bad, you should see ''[[Exalted]]''. Acronyms like [[Game Breaker|VAP]],<ref>Void Avatar Prana</ref>, PoCB,<ref>Protection of Celestial Bliss</ref>, SSE,<ref>Seven Shadow Evasion</ref>, GSNF<ref>Green Sun Nimbus Flare</ref> and SCS<ref>Solar Circle Sorcery</ref> are all thrown around. ''Exalted'' terminology is so flowery that typing all the Charms out in full could take weeks.

** It is said (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that the American armed forces run on TLAs,<ref>Three-Letter Acronyms</ref>, ETLAs,<ref>Extended Three-Letter Acronyms</ref>, and MTTLAs.<ref>More-Than-Three-Letter Acronyms</ref>.

* Laptop computers used to use a type of expansion slot known as PCMCIA, an acronym for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, the group of companies that got together to develop the hardware standard. Owing to what a mouthful the acronym was (not to mention how non-descriptive it proved to be once you bothered to unroll it), the acronym is jokingly said to mean "[[Fun with Acronyms|'''P'''eople '''C'''an't '''M'''emorize '''C'''omputer '''I'''ndustry '''A'''cronyms]]".<br /><br />The name was eventually changed to the much shorter "PC Card", before the format was replaced entirely by Express Card.