"Hairless BH?" Does BH stand for Body Hair? How about Bohemian Hairless? Perhaps Borderline Hypothesis? Bad Hairspray? Body Hair? Barrier Hair?

I've lived in acronym city for nearly 20 years, and am usually quite good at nailing acronyms given the context in which they're used.

Barry Heilburg? Bottom Hair? Beer Hurl?

But I haven't a clue as to what "BH" stands for.

I even did a Wikipedia search on "BH" on it's article on Quasars, and couldn't find the "BH" acronym anywhere.

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Niets. Rien. Nichts. Τίποτα. Niente. 何も. 아무것. Ничего.

You know why that is?

Because the OP was SLOPPY in his/her OP, and failed to spell out their acronyms before posting the acronyms, that's why.

Take for example, the concept of "top dead center," or TDC (the immediately preceding words are an example of how to do it right - please take notice) as it's commonly referred to throughout the world of auto engine mechanics. It refers to the position of the crankshaft when the #1 piston reaches it's highest point. That's top dead center, a point in the rotation of the crankshaft where this happens, and it's actually marked on the crankshaft so that mechanics can use what's called a timing light to observe the advance/retard behavior of either a distributor cap or electronic timing functions through various revolutions per minute (RPM) regimes of the engine.

Hey! There's another one: "revolutions per minute (RPM)." (another example of how it should be done)

Key point: Spell it out, first, then put it's acronym in parentheses. Feel free to use it in it's acronym format after that.

Unless you do that, others will, quite possibly, not know what you're talking about, regardless of their IQs, levels of education, or areas of education.

It's not about snobbishness. It's about communication. It's simply the polite thing to do, such as taking a moment and holding the door open for someone immediately behind you.

So do it! Spell out your acronyms in your posts. Once you've done that, feel free to post your acronyms in that post (and in that post only) to your heart's content.

If you start a different thread, please assume that others have not read your first thread and take the time to do the same!

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that.

I am human. Fully human.

Black Hole.

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Uhh... BH = Black Hole?


I often wonder when I see the ones commonly used like AIFK or FWIW etc...

IIRC is another.
FWIW =FOr what it's worth- IIRC = If I recall correctly. I'm guessing but those make sense...
AIFK? I have no idea what that one is. I have seen others and more obscure ones too.


Most reporters do what you suggested. They initially spell out the acronym. Then use the acronym only later.

Yup, see above. I agree it's a good idea to spell out acronyms, though to be fair, the first sentence in William's post refers to "Black Hole." And, if you aren't sure what something means in a thread, it doesn't hurt to ask for clarification in the thread.

You sure that isn't AFAIK (As Far As I Know)?

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Click*

I'd like to change my original post (OP) to read:

"Hairless BH?" Does BH stand for Body Hair? How about Bohemian Hairless? Perhaps Borderline Hypothesis? Bad Hairspray? Body Hair? Barrier Hair?

I've lived in acronym city for nearly 20 years, and am usually quite good at nailing acronyms given the context in which they're used.

Barry Heilburg? Bottom Hair? Beer Hurl?

I haven't a clue as to what "BH" stands for.

I even did a Wikipedia search on "BH" on it's article on Quasars, and couldn't find the "BH" acronym anywhere.

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Niets. Rien. Nichts. Τίποτα. Niente. 何も. 아무것. Ничего.

You know why that is?

Because the OP was SLOPPY in his/her OP, and failed to spell out their acronyms before posting the acronyms, that's why!

Take for example, the concept of "top dead center," or TDC (the immediately preceding words are an example - please take notice) as it's commonly referred to throughout the world of auto engine mechanics. It refers to the position of the crankshaft when the #1 piston reaches it's highest point. That's top dead center, a point in the rotation of the crankshaft where this happens, and it's actually marked on the crankshaft so that mechanics can use what's called a timing light to observe the advance/retard behavior of either a distributor cap or electronic timing functions through various revolutions per minute (RPM) regimes of the engine.

Hey! There's another one: "revolutions per minute (RPM)." (another example of how it should be done)

Key point: Spell it out, first, then put it's acronym in parentheses. Feel free to use it in it's acronym format after that.

Unless you do that, others will, quite possibly, not know what in the world you're talking about, regardless of their IQs, levels of education, or areas of education.

It's not about snobbishness. It's about communication. It's simply the polite thing to do, such as taking a moment and holding the door open for someone immediately behind you.

So do it! Spell out your acronyms in your posts. Once you've done that, feel free to post your acronyms in that post (and in that post only) to your heart's content.

If you start a different thread, please assume that others have not read your first thread and take the time to do the same!

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that.

I am human. Fully human.

Hey, like I said, I live in acronym soup, as in wtfist

But I reiterate that it's simply both polite posting and decent writer skills to spell it out first, before posting or being asked, wtdtm?

These are acronyms that cannot be translated on this board due to the board rules. However, I hope everyone gets my drift: In EACH post, spell out your acronyms FIRST, then put them in parentheses immediately afterwards, and feel free to use them after that.

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that.

I am human. Fully human.

Is that like RTFQ?

I do a lot of technical writing and acronyms abound. Mugs has it right - spell it out first.

Most of them, anyway. I think we all know what IQ stands for.

I agree mugaliens. Good post.

As for IQ, often one understand what it means but not necessarily what it actually stands for, e.g. ibid, nb, AM, PM, OK, AD, CV, p.s. etc.

I think you have that backwards. It's clear what the acronym IQ stands for (intelligence quotient), but what it means is the subject of many a debate.

One of my favorites is "TLA"--in the government, TLAs get used all the time, for example, "TLA" is one. It is funniest when people who foreswear swearing, use acronyms with swearwords in them, not knowing how they expand, but just following usage they've heard around the place. I remember a woman who used "TU" a lot, and was embarrassed when she found out what it meant, being of feminist bent and sensitive to references to body parts that are presumably female given the semi-rowdy group of men she learned "TU" from. SOL, SNAFU, FUBAR are stronger examples.

__________________
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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

Urban Dictionary, though it doesn't have BH yet, so the OP couldn't've found it there.

I've maintained for some time that what we need is a sticky (no! not another one!) of frequently-used acronyms. Because, frankly, there are some that aren't going to get spelled out in every post as Mugaliens suggests. "ATM"? Even though we all use it in at least two contexts, even just around here, we will continue to expect people to know when we mean "Against the Mainstream" or "Automatic Teller Machine."

Now, I don't use "IIRC." Or even "BTW," much. "AFAIK"? Not a chance. But I don't think we're ever going to stop people from using them without spelling them out in advance, and with common ones--and, you know, "BH" is one of them, at least around here--I don't think we should have to. I'm perfectly willing to work on the list. If we ever get a board wiki up, as some other boards have, I'd even put in the effort to keep it in alphabetical order, which it really should be. There are even a few threads buried around here with board-specific acronyms; I think I started one myself. But this is the world the internet has created for us, I'm afraid. That's why I think a sticky would help--stickies are the tools boards use to provide needed information, and a glossary would often help.

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Aw, shucks! I've been waiting all morning for Gillianren to swoop in and explain the difference between acronyms and abbreviations, maybe even initializations. I guess I'm a splitter and not a lumper after all (old taxonomy joke).

As a former federal and now a state employee, I agree wholeheartedly with this acrimonious attitude towards acronyms and abbreviations. The ones that really get my goat aren't the scientific ones, but rather the Internet shorthand notations like AFAIK, IIRC, GR8, IMHO, ROFLMAO et cetera. Guess I'm getting old.

Yours in abbreviations,
ABR.

make that three then--I didn't think of Automatic Teller Machine, but Amateur Telescope Making.

__________________
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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

My second favorite is ETLA.

(For others, those are "Three (or Two) Letter Acronym" and "Extended Three Letter Acronym.")

__________________
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Do I have to forget yet another rule I learned back when the Army sent me to writing school? They taught me about the two kinds of initialisms; abbreviations and acronyms. Abbreviations are pronounced as individual letters (AFAIK); acronyms as words (NASA, AIDS) and are always written in all caps. Some acronyms become words and then are written lower case (radar). When did the rules chan