Subject: Four-letter words; king's English, etc.
Date: Oct 14 11:49:43 1994
From: Mark Crotteau - CROTTEAU at WSUVM1.CSC.WSU.EDU


In response to Michael Price's recent posting in which he states that he
he lacks the temerity to suggest that everyone use the four-letter bird
name codes, yet insists that it saves his so much time when typing up
reports, I would like to point out the fundamental illogic of this
statement. What good does it do to save time typing up a message if the
majority of those receiving the message do not understand it? This to
me is a much worse annoyance than some of the spelling and grammatical
errors that others have complained about. At least in most of these
cases, we all understand what the person is trying to say. Which brings
me to my next topic.

Everyday when I turn on the monitor of the computer where I work I see
the message at the top of the screen, "There is no logmsg data." I have
no idea what logmsg data is (an abbreviation akin to the four-letter words
cited above, but one which I don't need to know). What I do know is that
if there WERE any logmsg data, THEY would be plural. A minor annoyance
you might say, and be right to a degree, but careless use of the language
can obscure thought and hinder communication. For example, Lisa Smith is
correct: further is not a new form a farther. Farther refers only to
physical distances; further to more abstract matters. I would argue that
to confuse the two diminishes clarity of communication in English.

To return to the original point, I find many of the acronyms so common in
current English to be an annoyance at best and a hindrance to communication
at worst. I don't deny myself the time it takes to write out bird names,
even for my own personal notes. If I need to abbreviate, I can say, for
example, starling and know that European Starling is indicated. R-w
Swallow would even be a suitable abbreviation to denote Northern Rough-
winged Swallow. I know that's a particularly nasty one to write out. My
point is we can abbreviate to a point in communication with our fellow
birders, but the four-letter codes go beyond what can be readily understood
by all. I subscribe to several lists, some of which are not bird-related.
In scanning the subject lines the other day I ran across "HEGU X GWGU." I
didn't realize till later that it had anything to do with birds.

Mark Crotteau
Pullman, WA (a recognizable abbreviation) <crotteau at wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu>