SWMBO, abbreviations?

[neksmerj]

It always amuses me, and gets me thinking about all the abbreviations members use in their posts, just to save a bit of typing.

Have we become addicted to SMS talk? Do members respond to posts, while driving with a laptop on their knees?

Have we reached a stage where just a couple of letters will do, and leave the reader in a quandary?

SWMBO....she who must be obeyed, that one is obvious.
CIFAB.....come in for a beer.
GFYB.....Get f...no further explanation necessary, hear it all the time.
TBH....too bloody hard, or try both hands, know what I mean?

So, let's have the best metalwork shorthand you have!

If the moderators let this run it's course, we should finish up with SBB's.

...some bloody beauties.

Kennearth

[Toyboy]

Actually I find these abbreviations interesting, especially when used by those who are handicapped by the written word. For example, SWMBO is a common abbreviation and yet I often see S'H'MBO.
I believe that abbreviations should only be used by those with a command of the language as I think it (abbreviations), contributes to the overall literacy problem.:;
In my line of work, we live with abbreviations, or as we commonly refer them, TAFLA's, (Three Or More Letter Acronyms).
Eg.: As an SO1OIC ACP3, I answer to the AD who in turn answers to the AC in regards to SOP's and PO's, with the CCS being involved regarding CCOS, but certainly not when it comes to DTP's. That's the role of the CSO or ACSO. :C
I can't believe the number of acronyms around. Sounds like an interesting thread comming up. :2tsup:

[Ivan in Oz]

G'day Ppl, [People]
The First one I came across out of the ordinary [Actually they also required explaining]:doh::B:B

Was
FB Hma .... A Very large Hammer,
I was disassembling a MotorBike Gearbox and required MORE persuasion:;

[glock40sw]

G'day..


Whiskey Alpha Bravo = WAB = What A Bastard

WTSHTF = When The ???? Fits The Fan

DILLIGAF = Do I look Like I Give A ????

FUA = ???? You Ah?

[Daddles]

Like the old story, probably an urban myth but it's fun.

It appears that old Ted discovered the internet while waiting for a glue up to dry. He discovered the joys of chat rooms, particularly the ones with retired ladies :wink: He particularly liked the caring way in which they spread the love around - LOL appeared commonly in the chat room and it obviously meant 'Lots of Love'.

The time came when the not well liked husband of a much loved neice suffered a massive heart attack and died. He couldn't attend the funeral but sent a card saying: "Sorry to hear about your loss. LOL."

Richard :D

[Poppa]

How about ROFLMAO (rolling on the floor laughing my ???? off). Or AALRLITFM (as a l.ast resort look in the 'something' manual).

[The Bleeder]

My favorite (this is for the one's who ask the dumb question)

RTFM (Read The ????ing Manual)

SSDD (Same ???? Different Day)

Steve

[Toyboy]

I love the old SNAFU.
Situation Normal. All ????ed Up.

[Stuart]

Or Fubar - I love that I can walk into Bunnings and buy a Fubar

????ed up beyond all recognition

And what a fitting name for the tool that now proudly displays the TLA for all!

[Wongo]

Just a few more

WD40
F1
T2
3D
WW1
WW2
U2



:p

[jerryc]

SNAFU as far as I know came from World War One. World War Two produced two in the London Blitz ITMA (It's that man again). Referring to Herr
Schickelgruber.and the Luftwaffe as they pounded London each night It was used as the title of a radio comedy show of the same period.
The show also gave us TTFN (Tat ta for now)which became common usage for a while. So as always there is nothing new under the Sun. Just thought of the Romans and SPQR. My Latin is a bit rusty but I'm told it was connected with their trading policy (Small profits, quick returns) but I could be wrong on this one.

[silentC]

From Wikipedia:

SNAFU, simply defined as "situation normal" and used in a military context, was first recorded in American Notes and Queries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_and_Queries) in their September 1941 issue.<sup id="cite_ref-OED_1-0" class="reference">[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU#cite_note-OED-1)</sup> Time magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_magazine) used the term in their June 15, 1942 issue: "Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu."<sup id="cite_ref-OED_1-1" class="reference">[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU#cite_note-OED-1)</sup> Most reference works, including the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, supply an origin date of 1940 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940)-1944 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1944), generally attributing it to the U.S. Army.

[silentC]

Also:

SPQR is an initialism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym_and_initialism) from a Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin) phrase, Senātus Populusque Rōmānus ("The Senate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Senate) and the People of Rome", or, "The Senate and Roman People"), referring to the government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government) of the ancient Roman Republic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic), and used as an official signature of the government.

[jerryc]

Silent,

SPQR means what you say? Well you learn something new every day.
QED.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[silentC]

I don't know, I just grabbed that from Wikipedia and assumed it to be correct. It rings a bell though.

Q.E.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28full%29) "quod erat demonstrandum" (literally, "that which was to be demonstrated"). The phrase is written in its abbreviated form at the end of a mathematical proof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_proof) or philosophical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy) argument (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_argument), to signify that the last statement deduced was the one to be demonstrated, so the proof is complete.

:)

[Hafgan]

From Wikipedia:

SNAFU, simply defined as "situation normal" and used in a military context, was first recorded in American Notes and Queries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_and_Queries) in their September 1941 issue.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-OED_1-0">[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU#cite_note-OED-1)</sup> Time magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_magazine) used the term in their June 15, 1942 issue: "Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-OED_1-1">[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU#cite_note-OED-1)</sup> Most reference works, including the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, supply an origin date of 1940 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940)-1944 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1944), generally attributing it to the U.S. Army.


and here was I thinking it was - situation normal (all ????ed up!)...... a wry way of saying how things often happen in the army / navy / any big organisation

Hafgan

[jerryc]

Silent,

You must be one great ball of fun at any gathering. But to be serious for a moment. Was your triple humour bypass painful.


Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[silentC]

That's exactly what it stands for. I think the 'simply defined as "situation normal"' is just giving a common short form that people use when they're being sarcastic. Like when someone says "such and such has had too much to drink" and you reply "situation normal". I guess that's where it came from.

[Gingermick]

A really useful one for someone like me is NFI, No ????ing Idea.

[Toyboy]

Actually, I believe that Enid Blyton termed 'TTFN', apparently used by Tigger???? in her Winnie the Pooh series. At least I think that's where it came from.

Just a moot point, one is usually better off quoting Aesop. It's much clearer and to the point. One doesn't have to self-interpret and all the stories are clear and concise.

[jerryc]

toyboy,

I am deeply confused. I had no idea that Enid Blyton had any input into Winnie the Pooh. All these years I have attributed Winnie the Pooh with A A Milne. I'll probably learn soon that Biggles was written by Baron von Richthofen and that will entirely shatter my years of hero worship.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left

[silentC]

I never was much of a one for fairy tales, Jerry :)

[jerryc]

Silent,

If you are not into fairy stories don't believe everything you read in Wikipedia.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[silentC]

I certainly don't, but both of those articles have references and they are supported by the Macquarie Dictionary, so that's good enough for me.

However, I read an article on there recently which insists that there are a number of words in the English language that have a Q without a U, so I take that with a grain of salt.

[Toyboy]

Oops. You are quite correct about A.A. Milne. Sorry. It's old age catching up with me.:doh:

As for the fairie stories, I concur wholeheartedly, which is why I suggested Aesop's fables as opposed to those silly fairy stories.:D

Biggles by whom? Nah, it was Capt. W.E. Johns. :2tsup:

[jerryc]

Toyboy,

I have read all of Biggles books. You may not believe it but I even owned a Tiger Moth for a few years VH-ULR.

My favourite Biggles title? Biggles Flies Undone

At the risk of offending some for which I apologise in advance. The King James Bible to me is sheer poetry. Belief in it is against my religion which is Orthodox Atheist but then they Say the Devil can quote the Bible for his own ends.

But we really have to stop soon as we have well and truly derailed this abbreviations thread. But it has been amusing, to me at least.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[rrich]

There is the World Health Food Organization or When H*** Freezes Over, WHFO.
LOML another term for SWMBO. (Love Of My Life)
A measurement term expressing a tiny length, RCH. (We won't go there, here)
As in reading instructions, RTFM or Read The Funny Manual.

[underfoot]

anyone else noticed thats it's quicker to say
'World Wide Web",
than to say it's abbreviation, 'WWW' ? :rolleyes:

[rrich]

With all the acronyms above I thought that this might be amusing.

There was this computer center that used Control Data Computers. This was a batch oriented system and the users used their initials as their logon I/D. The remote users who used batch terminals (UT-200) to access the system were assigned two letter names for the remote terminal.

One evening I'm in the data center working on some support equipment. The system operator is attempting to help a remote user who had never operated the UT-200 terminal before.

The system operator was rather frustrated with the remote user and sort of swearing at his console. The system operator was getting more and more frustrated. I looked over his shoulder and noticed that he was starting a message to the remote user with the letters, "FY". I said, "You can't tell a user that!" The system operator didn't understand until I pointed to the "FY" on the screen. The system operator burst out laughing. He explained that the remote user was using remote terminal "FY". We both had a good laugh and the operators frustration was lowered substantially.

[peter_sm]

I used abbreviations largely back in the old modem dial in days to BBS networks, playing MUD. Basically text based computer games live with other people. You have to be quick, as there is no joystick or Playstation gamepad. Abbreviated sentences were the only way to get messages across quick before you got slayed by a magical Dwarf with healing powers. Also they were a general way to show emotion so people would not misunderstand that something you were saying was actually to be taken tongue in cheek. with a :) or LOL etc.
Widespread Internet access eliminated most BBSes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD

[Poppa]

A really useful one for someone like me is NFI, No ????ing Idea.

Mick, this just reminds me so much of a joke I have to tell it here.

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No idea...

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?

Still no idea...

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs and no willy?

Still no ????en idea...

Well I thought it was funny. Doesn't have a lot to do with acronyms though. So...

One of my favourites was one we used to use in my early days of working on IBM mainframe computers. The error manuals for those were filled with error message ids that started with the letter "I" (for example "IEH040" or "IEC201"). Whenever we encountered an error that was caused by user stupidity we used to call it an "ID ten T" error, spelt "ID10T".

[BernieP]

G'Day All (thats Good day)

When you youngsters start talking in shorthand I go to http://www.acronymfinder.com/

Cheers
Bernie

[Harry72]

WGAF this tread is a PITA.

[BernieP]

WGAF this tread is a PITA.
G'Day Harry

I think your right as it doesn't do your word "tread' would that be short for thread?

Cheers
Bernie

[artme]

POSH = Port Out Starboard Home. For the well to do on their passages from and to England.
TIP = To Insure Promptness, i.e. a little extra for good service.
SPIV = a low level crim. Mostly used in England. Came from an act of parliament to deal with Suspected Persons Itinerants and Vagrants.
PDG = Pretty Damned Good. Other variations are known to exist.:D:D
MOBA = My Own Bloody Aircraft
DOEM = Department Of Education Manual. Pronounced "dome" or "do em" ( because they are rules and regs to be followed)
BWAT = Bloody Well Answer This!
When I was a teenager SWALK = Sealed With A Loving Kiss.

[JackoH]

Go to http://www.imacronyms.com

[silentC]

The first three of those are backronyms - someone has made up the words to fit the letters of an existing word.

Posh is probably from an old Gypsy word for money, tip is derived from the German word 'tippen'. I found a couple of versions of the origins of spiv, but none mention an act of Parliament.

Just keeping it real :)

[Dingo Dog]

CF (Cluster ????, one or two more individuals involved in a ???? up)

[artme]

The Well to do had POSH put on their luggage. Port Out Starboard Home.
Something to do with the ladies protecting their complexions.

[JackoH]

POSH is said to relate to the position of the sun in the days before air cnditioned ships. On the way out to the east from England the coolest side of the ship was the port(Southern) side and on the way back the starboard(Southern) side. Hence Port Out Starboard Home.

[silentC]

Nup that's a myth. OED says: "The suggestion that this word is derived from the initials of ‘port outward, starboard home’, referring to the more expensive side for accommodation on ships formerly travelling between England and India, is often put forward but lacks foundation. The main objections to this derivation are listed by G. Chowdharay-Best in Mariner's Mirror (1971) Jan. 91-2."

Basically, there is no evidence of it in maritime records of the time. As far as I can tell, the port starboard thing came from a song written for the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[RETIRED]

Keep it clean and don't personally attack anyone.

[Christopha]

Who got attacked? What did I miss? Is that being a mongrel again? ;) Someone should salt his tea!

mine.... SWUTBO..... She Who Used To Be Obeyed, the "EX"

[Calm]

......What did I miss? Is that being a mongrel again? ;) Someone should salt his tea!

I think i feel an axe weilder warming up:D:D

[Incoming!]

There are a couple of variations on FUBAR

There is FUBAB - Foul Up Beyond All Belief and SAPFU - Surpassing All Previous Foul Ups. (foul is not necessarily the word used)

Have also run across UFI UFI (pronounced oofy oofy) which roughly translated means You "fouled" it, you fix it.

[watson]

I always liked WOFTAM,
Waste Of F(reakin') Time And Money.

[silentC]

Who got attacked?
Probably me, I missed it too. Some people don't like to be corrected :D

[Vernonv]

Probably me ...

I'm sure you're just being paranoid :unsure:


:D

[AlexS]

As far as I can tell, the port starboard thing came from a song written for the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Don't think so, it was around before CCBB (unless there was an earlier version than the 1950 or 60s one).

[silentC]

Yeah fair enough. I got that wrong, the song is from a recent musical version of the movie.

It's still a backronym though :D

[artme]

Maybe the axe wielder thought I was attacking Silent! Not so, just disputing. If he wants an attack I can oblige.:D:D

I still maintain my position on POSH. Learnt that when very young and it sparked a bit of an interest in words."Ask Oxford" backs up my claim. So there!:p:p:p

As for TIP, the "tippen'' seems to be correct. I was Given the promptness explanation by an older American gentleman many years ago and assumed it to be correct because tipping is an American thing.

As for SPIV other sources back up my assertion on suspected person etc, but it appears to be a police acronym for suspected persons and itinerant vagrants.

The word Spiv is also associated, as silent said, with the Romany sparrow, as in a petty thief.
Who knows for sure?

OK is possibly from early US Army checklisting - Orl Kerrect! That was possibly poor spelling or smart arsery.

How come nobody had yet mentioned CGRA? Come on fellas, tou are letting the side down.

[RETIRED]

Who got attacked? What did I miss? Is that being a mongrel again? ;) Someone should salt his tea!

mine.... SWUTBO..... She Who Used To Be Obeyed, the "EX"Yep.:D

[RETIRED]

Maybe the axe wielder thought I was attacking Silent! Not so, just disputing. If he wants an attack I can oblige.:D:D

.Not so lucky.:no:

[jerryc]

,

If it was me that the axe should fall on then humbly I bow my head to the blow.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[Groggy]

posh
poshly, adverb. poshness, noun.
/posh/. Colloquial
adjective
1. elegant; luxurious; smart; first-class.
phrase
2. posh up, to make smart or elegant.
[origin unknown; ? obsolete posh a dandy. The conjectured acronym from p(ort) o(ut,) s(tarboard) h(ome), a reference to the better (i.e. cooler) accommodation on vessels sailing from Britain to India, Australia, etc., is not supported by available evidence]

[tea lady]

Someone should salt his tea!

:tempted::fisch:

[joe greiner]

My late Dad had an earlier career as a wireless operator in the Merchant Marine (1920s). The original purpose of many acronyms was to reduce transmission time (and therefore cost) of Morse code telegrams (landline) and radiograms. Newspaper homicide reports of the era almost always included the stilted phrase "shot and instantly killed" which was sent in code as SAIK from the scene of the offence.

Ham radio operators use CQ (seek you) as a general call of "anybody listening?" Tonnes more.

Joe

[ubeaut]

Back in the early days of computing most computers were called FRED - "Freakin' Ridiculous Electronic Device"

Then there's the TWAIN device, referring to scanners: "Thing Without An Interesting Name"

Lucky I remembered those two because I have CRAFT disease::think: "Can't Remember A Freakin' Thing":dunno:

[artme]

Bosh and tosh to other opinions on posh!
Yahoo = Yet another officious hierachical organ.

[silentC]

I still maintain my position on POSH. Learnt that when very young ...
I learnt about the tooth fairy and Santa Claus when I was very young, too :)

[silentC]

"Ask Oxford" backs up my claim.
Hey, did you mention Ask Oxford (http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/posh?view=uk)?


The story goes that the more well-to-do passengers travelling to and from India used to have POSH written against their bookings, standing for 'Port Out, Starboard Home' (indicating the more desirable cabins, on the shady side of the ship). Unfortunately, this story did not make its appearance until the 1930s, when the term had been in use for some twenty years, and the word does not appear to have been recorded in the form 'P.O.S.H.', which would be expected if it had originated as an abbreviation. Despite exhaustive enquiries by the late Mr George Chowdharay-Best, researcher for the OED, including interviews with former travellers and inspection of shipping company documents, no supporting evidence has been found.QED!

[AlexS]

QED!
Quite easily done.

[namtrak]

One for the kids

a
b
c
d
fish
m
n
o
fish
s
a
r
fish
c
d
b
d
i's

o
i
c
m

[artme]

Yair - OK Silent! Was only given first bit. Will be careful to check it out myself in future.:B:B:B

[JackoH]

doesn't like all these 'F' words. Not a Gordon Ramsay fan!

[jerryc]

R I P
Return if Possible

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides wo is left.

[jerryc]

Just an idle thought. How many of you, without recourse to net guidance, could tell me where SWMBO originated? A clue is that the author also wrote of the warrior Umslopogaas of the Axe called 'Groan Maker.'


Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[silentC]

That's easy: Rumpole of the Bailey, and before that from She, a book presumably read at some point by John Mortimer.

I've read all of the Rumpole series and seen most of the TV series as well :)

[Groggy]

Just an idle thought. How many of you, without recourse to net guidance, could tell me where SWMBO originated? A clue is that the author also wrote of the warrior Umslopogaas of the Axe called 'Groan Maker.'


Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.Asked and answered a year or two ago.

Henry Rider Haggard wrote "She" in 1885.

The subject is a beautiful (white) woman who has lived for over two thousand years, who possesses some secrets and powers that keep her in charge of the primitive (black) people over whom she rules. The leader of the tribe was the mysterious and ageless Ayesha. Her subjects were forbidden to call her by her real name. They could only call her "She". "She" had the power of life and death over her subjects, therefore "She" was most often refered to as "'She', who must be obeyed".

For the academics, "She who must be obeyed" was referred to in the "Epic of Gilgamesh". This is supposedly the oldest story known to exist and approximately 5000 years old. It appears that men feared their women-folk even back then!

Later, Rumpole (the British TV show character), popularised the term, often referring to his wife as SWMBO.

From this thread (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=15222&highlight=SWMBO).

[jerryc]

Silent,

But have you actually read any of the books of old Henry?
Watched the TV series of Rumpole but didn't warm to the books. I have read all the African stories of Henry.

Groggy,

Must explain to me how to do the box quote bit sometime with the originally from inset. Real flash that.
Of course I should have realised that someone would have researched the origin of SWMBO.
Just as an aside, the old H R H predates even Edgar Rice Burroughs and his ilk. Even Tolkien's Lord of the Rings owes the old guy a debt. But here I go drifting off thread again.


Jerry


War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[Groggy]

Must explain to me how to do the box quote bit sometime with the originally from inset. Real flash that.
Use the http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/buttons/quote.gif button then type after where the [ /quote ] finishes. You can also remove the rest of the text that you are not replying to (keeps it relevant and shorter).

Or, you can type this directly into a message:

[ quote ] (with no spaces) followed by the text... then a [ /quote ] (again, no spaces).

which looks like:


(with no spaces) followed by the text... then a

[Dingo Dog]

From the mining lingo there comes.

FIGJAM (???? I'm Good, Just Ask Me) or

JAMFIG (Just Another Mother ????ing Idiot Geologist)

[Gingermick]

But.. does anyone know where the term 'sh*t on the liver' comes from?