On 6 May 2015 at 09:23, Rohan McLeod <rhn@jeack.com.au> wrote:
I hope amongst all this hilarity , it is clear that the linguistic function of acronyms is to provide a systematic way of 'coining'; words which are simultaneously clear, distinct and precise. To this end a three letter acronym whilst clear and recognisable, may suffer from ambiguity eg see http://www.acronymfinder.com/TLA.html whilst a seven letter acronym whilst less ambiguous will suffer from ease of recognition !
In a previous job role I attended a short seminar presented by an eminent English Professor of Statistics (I can't recall his name right now) but he had that knack of being an engaging and entertaining presenter. During the talk he was presenting the various findings from a number of studies that were littered with TLAs and after the umpteenth one came up he said as and aside that when he retired he going to take up SODA...the Study Of Dubious Acronyms. -- Colin Fee tfeccles@gmail.com