Subject: Re: BINA/re: Bird Guide
Date: Jun 26 18:06 PD 1995
From: Michael Price - michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca


Hi Tweeters & OBOLers,

Eugene Hunn says:

(snip)
>I beg to differ. I say write "roughwing." Then most everybody knows
>what you mean. I can type "roughwing" faster than I can type NORW or
>whatever it is, even discounting the time it takes to try to remember the
>damn code (time which both writer and reader must invest).

And I beg to insist. It is a matter of *choice* where with a minimum of good
manners and politeness, the codes need neither intimidate nor bemuse. I have
no time, though, for the "I disapprove of this, therefore *you* must stop
doing this." attitude: it is simply counterproductive and divisive. To
parody Voltaire: Monsieur, though I disagree with your stand, I will defend
to the--well, I'll defend your right to choose *not* to use the codes ;-)

In addition, unfortunately, one cannot assume "everyone" will understand a
jargon term such as 'roughwing'. Four letters of upper-case code with an
objective basis of agreement is in most cases to be preferable to nine
lower-case letters of a subjective jargon; at least there is an
authoritative reference for code, whereas when deciphering jargon it is
necessary either to contact the term's originator for the term's meaning or
be a member of the in-group for whom the jargon is common and implicitly-
understood usage.

Will there be a similar campaign of vilification against similarly
convenient code-words such as BTW, IMHO, FTP, FAQ, etc? Or is it a selective
case of 'e-mail codes good: bird codes bad'? Can I expect to see our posts
sanitised of these terms in the near future? Probably not likely; we choose
our targets, consistency or no consistency.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca

cc OBOL, as the discussion seems to have been posted there too.