IDK, do all these initials really make life easier? Lol

TLAs. Don’t you hate them? They are nearly as painful as UTIs, except without a cure.

“WTF?” you say. “What’s a TLA?”

TLA stands for three-letter abbreviation. And isn’t it infuriating when people pepper their prose with acronyms and initialisms without spelling them out?

(I’ve included a glossary below because, quite frankly, I have a bit of trouble keeping up.)

Not so long ago, I thought I’d look for bargains at the DFO because I had missed the EOFY sales here. I was driving along the M4 (or was it the M7 or M11?) and listening to some EDM (or was it contemporary R&B?) – on Triple J.

I got fed up with it and switched to ABC Sydney Radio where there was discussion on what the NSW Government should name the L4. It took a while but I finally figured out they were talking about a new light rail line to Parramatta.

Why not call it the Parramatta Light Rail? Or is that too obvious?

Initially I was annoyed with initialisms, but now I see the advantages of using them instead of actual words. Obviously it saves us so much time – and energy. It is so exhaauuusting telling my BFF that I will “be right back” when BRB will suffice.

But IDK what I’m going to do with all this time I save. Perhaps I could see a show at the IPAC or the WEC, read a book from my TBR pile, or watch a match at the SCG or the WACA.

Or how about old-timey music at the NFF (National Folk Festival)? I must make sure I don’t end up at the National Farmers’ Federation instead because the discussion about AI (and I’m not talking about artificial intelligence here) might contain TMI for my sensitive suburban ears.

And isn’t it wonderful to have a secret code to exclude all the non-cool people who wouldn’t know their WHSPA from their UOW.

Secret codes worked a treat during the Great Depression – which wasn’t all that great for many. Swaggies had their secret signs which they made with sticks, stones or scratches in the ground to pass on information about where they could get a feed or which homestead had angry dogs or savage people. For example, X meant a place was alright, o o meant you should tell a pathetic story, o o o let other travellers know money was usually given here, but WWW warned of angry dogs.

(You can see these signs on the Gulgong Symbol Trail near Mudgee)

Abbreviations and acronyms are in plague proportion in the medical world so medical people can speak about medical conditions without spooking the patients. Just don’t get your PFO (heart condition) mixed up with “pissed and fell over”.

And the military world is full of them. Don’t get your IED confused with your AED or it could be messy.

But at least the medical and military secret languages are used within those specific worlds and we civilians aren’t expected to know them.

Nah. I’ve decided I don’t really like all these mysterious abbreviations. In short, they are alienating. Language is supposed to be about communicating with people, not forcing them to play guessing games.

I give up. YOYO. I’m going for a G&T.

Glossary
AI – artificial intelligence / artificial insemination
BFF – best friend forever
BRB – be right back
DFO – direct factory outlet
EDM electronic dance music
EOFY – end of financial year
G&T – gin and tonic
IDK – I don’t know
IED – improvised exploding device / intermittent explosive disorder – mental health condition
IPAC – Illawarra Performing Arts Centre
NFF – National Folk Festival / National Farmers’ Federation
PFO – pissed and fell over / patent foramen ovale – a hole between the upper chambers of the heart
R&B – rhythm and blues
SCG – Sydney Cricket Ground
TBR – to be read
TLA – three-letter abbreviation
TMI – too much information
UOW – University of Wollongong
UTI – urinary tract infection
WACA – Western Australian Cricket Association
WEC – Wollongong Entertainment Centre
WHSPA – Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts
WTF – what the ?
YOYO – you’re on your own