Quote Originally Posted by Miner View Post
Sigh - Oz et alia - come on people - lighten up. Using an acronym is fine - but take a hint from the press - spell it out if you throw in something new - it doesn't take much more effort.

Just because something has common parliance somewhere doesn't mean it's universal. There are exceptions which are very well known (BDSM in the English speaking world, for example - and anyone who found this site should know what BDSM means before they got here), but can we expect the same is true for all terms?

And what about acronyms that have several different meanings? Is it always clear which meaning is being used?

It's not going to break anyone's back to take a page out of the book used by AP (American Press Services) or Reuters and spell out the acronym the first time it's used in a thread. It's just politesse.
You complain but do it yourself. Not merely presuming common abbreviations (e.g., r/t) and acronyms (e.g., LOL, if you're going to complain, you don't get to chose for others which ones are acceptable without interpretation,) but you like using uncommon word forms (e.g., fora) and latin phraseology (e.g., "ad hoc" and "et alia".)

So don't sigh your sighs at me. Not until you practice what you preach.