FYI.THD --- Copyright 1988 by Phil Wheeler An original compilation of Compuserve Model 100 Forum messages for use by Forum members only. Scott Schad has a great money-saving idea. Hmmm...or is he just pulling our legs? It's called Acronymn City or Alphabewt Soup. Whatever. I'm OK with FYI and BTW -- and even RSN. But some of the shorthand in this THD file is really mind boggling (POOSSLQ??). It is archived here just FYI. Message range: 172072 to 172153 Dates: 7/25/88 to 7/28/88 Sb: #FYI Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: All I would like some assistance on a project of mine, designed to save America millions of dollars a year. If successful, my project would cut online costs by 50-80%, and decrease the amount of written mail by the same amount. I'm writing a program to take the standard business letter and condense all the trite, meaningless phrases into abbreviations. Preliminary studies have shown very little loss in legibility, and a terrific space savings. The recipient of such a compressed letter can run it through my program again to expand the phrases. So please send me all the hackneyed, abused, banal, superfluous phrases that you can think of occurring in common business correspondence. ILFTHFY (I Look Forward To Hearing From You)... Fm: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 Reminds me of the story of a bunch of prisoners who had nothing else to do, so they reduced all the jokes they could think of to just numbers... #21 stood for a complete joke; #47 was a different one. Whenever anyone called out a number, everyone would break into peals of laughter. A new prisoner, wanting to get in on the fun, shouted out "Sixty-three!" But no one laughed. He asked his cell mates why no one laughed... One of them replied, "Well, some folks can tell a joke, and some folks can't." (grin) Anyway, you've got a germ of a good idea there... but I don't think the program approach is the way to tackle the problem. That would make the whole process computer-specific, and take years to implement. Xmodem is a prime example... even though it's been around for years, it's not universal. Anyway, I _could_ envision a book of definitions, that might list all the conceivable business forms by number, and would be sold cheap, like a dictionary. Then eventually, everyone would have a copy, and you could send someone a short form, giving only the message number, and some pertinent inserts. An example: SBFD (Standard Business Forms Dictionary) #1215 (Form #1215 - Maybe a "where is it letter") left-handed wrench June 13, 1988 cancel the order This of course would translate out to: Gentlemen, I recently ordered a from your firm on , and it hasn't arrived. Please Yours Truly Fm: Denny Thomas 76701,40 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 Here's one I just heard the other day: BTFOOM (If you need help, I'll only translate via email. (grin)) Of course you know FWIW, IMHO and it's corrolary IMNSHO, PITA, and WRT. And of course the easiest: BTW. Even in the surfing world data compression is occuring: TOAD and the explative: FOAD. There has been great demand for a dictionary of this sort. I think your project will do well. Fm: Mark Lutton 73106,1627 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 You've probably noticed the abbreviations Compuserve-ists use all the time, like IMHO (In My Humble Opinion, though when I use it I mean In My Haughty Opinion, but I don't tell anyone), BTW (By The Way), and TTFN (which I find hard to believe means "Ta-Ta For Now" so maybe someone can clear it up for me). Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 Great idea! But it seems kind of World War II-ish to force busy execs to resort to code books. I thought I'd just start small with a model 100 version, then sell the rights to the idea for lots of $ and retire. Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Denny Thomas 76701,40 Now I didn't profess to be an expert at deciphering these things, but you've stumped me on a couple. Perhaps Email is best... Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Mark Lutton 73106,1627 I've put my call for hack phrases on several local boards, and the winner so far for strangeness is: BDGT --or "Bitch'n Disco Good Time". I guess I just don't travel in the proper circles, or that my mail is too tame. Fm: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 How about, "The Check Is In The Mail"? Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 TCIITM is undoubtedly a true classic. Then there is the dreaded "ORIT YABIPD": Our Records Indicate That Your Account Balance Is Past Due. See how much more compact the abbreviation is? I think we're really on to something here. Fm: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 How about YSJYBFT? You Stupid Jerk, You'd Better Fix This! Fm: Mark Lutton 73106,1627 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 One phrase I see on some of the fora here is RTFM. It stands for "Read The Manual!" Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 It's a little off the mainstream, but nothing compared to Denny Thomas's contributions (he he). Get him to Email you a few. Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Mark Lutton 73106,1627 Great! I personally have nothing against manuals, and some of my best friends read manuals. Fm: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 I've seen some... they probably wouldn't be found in letters between genteel people. Fm: Ran Talbott 70506,60 To: C. Davey Utter 70055,522 I printed the labels on my POSSLQ's LaserWriter. We have a mutual assistance pact: she gets the use of my Mac in exchange for the use of her printer. Fm: C. Davey Utter 70055,522 To: Ran Talbott 70506,60 What the heck is a POSSLQ???? Fm: Ran Talbott 70506,60 To: C. Davey Utter 70055,522 Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters, i.e., cohabitant. During the last census, the Census Bureau people decided they needed a new pigeonhole to accomodate the large number of unmarried couples living together. Being bureaucrats, they couldn't tolerate an unlabelled pigeonhole. Since the Democrats were in power, they couldn't use a simple term like "fornicators", which might imply a moral judgement, even if they were inclined to express things simply. Hence, POSSLQ, which is more neutral than a transmission with all its gears stripped, and so wordy that no one ever spells it out except to define it. A modern bureaucrat's dream. Fm: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 To: Ran Talbott 70506,60 Ah, but your POSSLQ could be mistaken for "People of Same Sex Living Quietly". Let me propose that "Persons of Opposite Sex... should be POOSSLQ". Pronounced, Poos-slick. Fm: Denny Thomas 76701,40 To: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 Oh, you liked those? I should be able to come up with some others RSN. Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Tony Anderson 76703,4062 I admit to an occassional non-genteel remark...and abbreviating same is an appealing idea. I guess if I can't break old habits I can at least civilize them. Fm: SCOTT T. SCHAD 73720,1166 To: Denny Thomas 76701,40 Quite amusing, especially BTFOOM. I'm EAYR (Eagerly Awaiting Your Reply).