BTW, WTH does GFY mean?

Once upon a time (or around two decades ago), my eyes ran across “LOL” for the first time.

Somebody wrote it in a reply email to me (remember email, my older friends?)

My first thought - what the *flip is this word? Is it pronounced LAWL? What does it mean?

So I went with this new word “lawl.”

More and more people started using it within the week. It would make me laugh.

Little did I know these three letters were not an actual WORD. It was an acronym for three words: LAUGH OUT LOUD.

As time went on, more and more words began to disappear. These days, you can write a whole sentence with abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms.

I receive business emails embedded with them. Text messages are bombarded with them. And just when I found my writing mojo, I may have to give it up. If everyone uses a short form to communicate, my full words will no longer be desired.

The WORD is disappearing, friends. Words and phrases are being replaced with acronyms.

I used to think this was only my problem. It’s not. We should all be terrified.

I beg you… please STOP.

Stop and THINK before you add LOL or other forms of abbreviations or acronyms in every written form of communication. If you don’t speak it, don’t write it. At least not all the time.

Below are a few reasons why acronyms should be concerning for us all:

1. The writer may save time but the receiver of the message never does. Every time one uses an acronym, I am being asked to stop everything I am doing at the moment and try to decipher what they are saying. Do you know how long it took me to learn what the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) meant? Why were they calling elite athletes like Simone Biles a farm animal? And why should I have to JFGI (Just *freakin’ Google It) because YOU decided to not use full words? How selfish! I am not an acronym dictionary. Stop getting me to do more work. How would you like it if I said YNTSUA? Don't know what I said? Too *freakin’ bad. Now you know how I feel.

2. Problems arise when there may be different interpretations of the same acronym. I may be offended by an acronym intended to be a compliment or statement. A good example is GFY (“Good For You,” or “Go *Flip Yourself”). Even LOL was once believed to stand for LOTS OF LOVE when first being used in my younger Gregorian calendar years.

3. For the love of all things wholesome and pure, think of the children. THE CHILDREN!!! They have been indoctrinated into accepting acronyms as normal. I will never forget the day my daughter (now 10 yrs) told me two years ago I was being “SUSS” (abbreviation for suspicious). Recently she shared how many students in her class last year handed in writing assignments using short forms of words all the time. She then felt the need to explain to us old people the importance of writing this way - it saves them time. Really? Who’s time? You’re TEN. I’m the one running out of time!

4. Speaking of children, think of teachers. Every time you use acronyms to communicate, you are putting more teachers out of work. It's already bad enough that funding for public schools is low. By encouraging acronyms there is no need for learning proper English. More kids will get bored with reading and writing. How will teachers feed themselves? Save our children and our teachers.

5. The alienation created from continued acronym use concerns me. I’ve witnessed people who start in a new role, group or community feeling excluded, embarrassed or silly because they had no clue what the veterans were talking about. I have experienced this first-hand. It can lead to unnecessary misunderstandings and resentment. There is no need for a spy language level of exclusivity. I don’t want any part of your siloed acronym cult. Let’s bring back equality by NOT shunning those who don’t know what all these unnecessary acronyms stand for.

6. Consider the language barrier. English is already hard enough to learn, even if English is your first language. Letters on their own could signify different things, and many acronyms do not translate well to other languages. This creates another group of people with different cultures and backgrounds being left out.

7. For those who don’t know, I’ll confess - at times I swear like a trucker. Only in person, and only around people I know and love. Writing out swear words never seems appropriate, and I avoid doing it as much as possible. It bothers me when I see these cheaters using acronyms to swear and think they are cool. Stop saying “Cool af” (Cool As *Fudge). It is NOT cool af to swear in an acronym form. I hated the length of time it took me to figure out what “AF” meant. It infuriated me more to see it used as a cool way to express something without having to swear. Stop with WTF, OMFG, TAS, LMFAO, GFY, SMFH, JFGI, AYFKMWTS and every other acronym implying the F, S, B and other (English) swear words. Swear with REAL words, damn it!!! Or don’t swear at all. Seriously, think of the children.

8. Acronyms encourage lying. How many times have you actually caught yourself ROTFLOL (Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud)? And don’t give me the whole “it’s just an expression” bull *turd. Can you really laugh your *arse off (LMAO)? Did you truly BMGWL (Busting My Gut With Laughter)? And have you ever LAWL/LOL, the original lie, or was it always only a giggle? Why don’t I see anyone saying IGOTI (I’m Giggling On The Inside)? Instead people back up their dishonesty with another acronym - TBH (To Be Honest). No, you are not being honest if you have to start a sentence with “To be honest…” It is worse when you can’t be bothered to say the words: “TO BE HONEST!”. Stop lying to yourself and others.

9. I am concerned about people thinking it’s cool to self-diagnose or make fun of a diagnosis with acronyms or abbreviations. We all like things a particular way. Stop labelling yourself ODC (obsessive-compulsive disorder) because of it. I have seen others announce they have ADHD because of a Google form they filled out online. These and others conditions are not abbreviations to joke around with. These are actual medical diagnoses that should not be thrown around like they are the “Cool af” thing to be or have.

10- Because we are running out of good English teachers and motivated learners, too many people are forgetting how to spell. This is a humanity crisis. BRING BACK FULL WORDS.

I get it. Acronyms can be addictive. I don’t HATE LAWLing with people I already have a relationship with. I read the room (or message) first. I usually wait until I have an established connection with people before I put out my precious LAWLs.

WORDS are under attack. I implore you - THINK before you use acronyms in your communication. Let’s all be kind to each other and make the world a better place by using them sparingly. Let’s rescue our children from this crazy anti-word jungle. We can start a movement right here and right now.

Thank you for listening to my rant.

Until next time, LAWL to your heart's content fellow creators.

Naddy / Nadine