Let us assume we cannot make assumptions
October 4th, 2007 by Bill
Yes, another complaint … I’m looking at a schedule for the Edmonton Oilers to see what games are televised and what channels they are on. And I’m seeing acronyms left and right.
Fine. I understand why they are using acronyms. Full names, like Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, take up too much space. Much cleaner to simply have CBC. Of course, someone has to know that CBC means Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or that RSW means Rogers Sportsnet West to know what the acronyms stand for. (And who calls it Rogers Sportsnet West? It’s referred to simply as Sportsnet or Sportsnet West, so RSW isn’t immediately intuitive.)
So I’m looking at this schedule and I can figure out some of the acronyms. Eventually. But what about CSP, OPPV, FSD, and FSNO? What on earth do those refer to?
Now the substance of my complaint … Yes, I understand why the acronyms are used. What I don’t understand is the absence of a table explaining what they stand for or, if one exists, why it is so hard to find.
The assumption here is that, if you’re into sports, of course you know what the acronyms represent. But the assumption should be, of course you have no idea what they represent. It’s silly to expect you would.
The world is full of assumptions like this. “In my world, we all use this specialized talk populated with terminology and acronyms we use all the time. Doesn’t everyone?”
No. Everyone does not. Please, please, please … Let’s all quit assuming we can assume others understand our particular world’s lingo. It’s much more efficient, much more cost effective, and it reduces crankiness marvelously.
(And a much easier to understand Oilers’ schedule is available here.)
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