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Translator Needed

W

Wayne Spence

Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Messages
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Location
Denver, Colorado
For the benefit of those of us born before World War II would someone please put into words the following I frequently see on the forums.

BTW, BIL, TTFN, IMHO

Thank you.
 
Wayne Spence said:
For the benefit of those of us born before World War II would someone please put into words the following I frequently see on the forums.

BTW By The Way
BIL (I don't know this one)
TTFN TaTa For Now
IMHO In My Humble Opinion

Thank you.
Click to expand...
(YW You're Welcome)
 
BIL Brother In Law
Other you may see,
ROTFLMAO Roll On The Floor Laughing My A** Off
LOL Laugh Out Loud
FWIW For What It's Worth
JMHO Just My Humble Opinion
 
BIL is Brother-in-law, so SIL, MIL, and FIL should be obvious now.

Here's a few more you may see here or elsewhere...

FWIW - For what it's worth
IIRC - If I remember correctly
DAMHIKT - don't ask me how I know this.
AFAIC - as far as I'm concerned.
AFAIK - as far as I know.
WTG - way to go
RTM - read the manual, or rtfm (guess)
GMTA - great minds think alike
POV - point of view
SITD - still in the dark
ESO - equipment smarter than operator
TMI - too much information
WOMBAT - waste of money, brains and time
TYVM - thank you very much
J/K - just kidding
ROFL - rolls on floor laughing
LMAO - laughing my a** off
OIC - oh, I see
OT - off topic

I guess that's enough for now. 🙂
 
And for any not already covered, I'd recommend you set a bookmark for AcronymFinder.com, which might be easier to find that this thread the next time you want to know.

Who else here remembers what ATM stood for before the banks made it so common? There's at least 2 that immediately come to mind.

TTFN 😀
 
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Then theres:
PEBCAK Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard.
IRL In Real Life
YMMV Your Mileage May Vary
FTW For The Win ( a computer gamers sort of thing )
SWMBO She Who Must Be Obeyed

They do go on and on...

Mark
 
While there are a number of abbreviations regarding "humble" opinions, I often find that when someone offers such an opinion, it does not seem very humble. I think that the list of abbreviations is not quite complete if it doesn't also include a few additional abbreviations like IMPO (In My Pompous Opinion). 😀
 
Imho

Bill Boehme said:
While there are a number of abbreviations regarding "humble" opinions, I often find that when someone offers such an opinion, it does not seem very humble. I think that the list of abbreviations is not quite complete if it doesn't also include a few additional abbreviations like IMPO (In My Pompous Opinion). 😀
Click to expand...

Bill,

IMHO you are still a hoot! 😀
 
Wayne, if, for instance, you type BTW acronym, on Google, you can usually find out what is meant.

If you check the following link, you will also find how confusing acronyms can be:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/BTW.html

In my opinion, it's a poor way to communicate because it excludes.
 
Bill Boehme said:
While there are a number of abbreviations regarding "humble" opinions, I often find that when someone offers such an opinion, it does not seem very humble. I think that the list of abbreviations is not quite complete if it doesn't also include a few additional abbreviations like IMPO (In My Pompous Opinion). 😀
Click to expand...

It can also mean In My Honest Opinion, but I agree that the acronym can come off as a bit cocky. (Plus. how often does one offer a dishonest opinion?) 😀

I usually try to avoid acronyms unless it's very common (psi, rpm, etc.) or I'm pretty certain the readers will understand the acronym. I'm sort of a walking acronym dictionary and I know a lot of them, but some people overuse them under the guide of "saving time". Another pet peeve is people who make up their own. I've seen posts in other forums referring to the LC and TS on the lathe. Just type "live center" and "tailstock" fer cryin' out loud. 😛

Here's a list of acronyms that I help maintain on another forum:

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4492
 
Vaughn said:
It can also mean In My Honest Opinion, but I agree that the acronym can come off as a bit cocky. (Plus. how often does one offer a dishonest opinion?) 😀
Click to expand...

Don't follow politics much?

Acronyms are insider words. Each specialty has its own, with a few spilling over into the public domain. Since we don't have Latin scholars around to research for old words to carry new meanings, we use the unpronounceable.

Some began as legitimate abbreviations in this age of texting, though a lot of them are now just insider stuff, given the real keyboards and word completion software. I use them with the kids, but not with the spouse, who thinks a message is incomplete if I fail to add terminal punctuation.
 
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While we are at it, why don't we revive the ole V.N. pilot codes, like, "Falcon 133"! Many of us would still understand those! Phil
 
FWIW, ATM = At The Moment.

If you think it's all a modern invention of the texting age, you're very off base. My Dad was a wireless operator in the Merchant Marine in the 1920s. According to him, it all began with land-line telegraph, to reduce transmission time and word count ($$$). Many old news reports indicated someone was "shot and instantly killed;" the stilted phrase was sent and received as "SAIK" (one word - low cost).

Similarly, ham radio and military Morse code operators used 2- or 3-letter groups for the same reason. The most common was (is?) "CQ" as a general call for correspondence (= Seek You).

The older form of SWMBO was YL (Young Lady) or XYL (eX Young Lady).
 
Joe Greiner said:
FWIW, ATM = At The Moment.

If you think it's all a modern invention of the texting age, you're very off base.
Click to expand...

As I said, many (of those currently in favor) began as texting (or chatroom) shorthand. Many others have their roots in morse, like the one that puzzled my family when I used it the first few times to acknowledge their text messages - "R".

Some people who customarily acknowledge "Roger" in voice transmissions don't even make the connection, I guess.

I don't have my Falcon codesheet any more, but IIRC, there was a difference in numbers between pounders, squids and what we used.
 
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Acronyms

Acronyms have been around since I was young and probably longer. Some of the military use I realize had a real purpose. My wife as a high school student advisor and counselor confiscates cell phones daily. The texting messages are interesting in that they are invented for a very small group , hard to decipher and usually start with gangs and then become more widespread within the student body. You can look at it as language evolution or as a decent of the language.
 
When I was a kid and first got sucked into the ham radio vortex, all of the abbreviations and acronyms seemed very cool to me, like discovering a new language. I suspect that all of the current abbreviations and acronyms used on the internet and texting has a similar impact on kids today.

My call sign -- WA5SOE (Senile Old Engineer). At the time that I got my ticket, I was none of the three. Now, I have achieved two of the three. Thing is ... when I achieve all three, I probably won't know it.

BTW, FWIW IMHO, the difference in meaning between abbreviation and acronym seems to have become lost these days when the word acronym is used to mean either one.

One more thing, these days, I try to avoid using such stuff like abbreviations, acronyms, and cliches like the plague.

BCNU later OM.

73,
Bill
SK
 
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OK, maybe not a hot button item, but for the sake of completeness. . .

Another early definition of ATM once common, now superseded by something entirely different.
 
Then there's "POS":mad:, a crude abbreviation descriptor for a tool or piece if equipment that doesn't function very well.
 
Bill wrote

Bill Boehme said:
BCNU later OM.

73,
Bill
SK
Click to expand...

Hi Bill -

I agree that the ham radio abbreviations and Q signals (primarily for use with CW [continuous wave] - or Morse code to those non-hams) to increase efficiency of communicating messages efficiently, is somewhat of a new language, with some 'mystique' about it, I suppose. I'm still teaching my 13-year-old son (KD0AQB; licensed at age 10) a lot of this "jargon" which is radio-specific, and just part of the fabric of amateur radio... many of these code abbreviations have crept into standard use with voice modes.

When you "signed off" in your last message, you have me pause...

To translate:

73, [greetings and best wishes]
BCNU [Be seeing you] later OM [Old Man = Ham operator]
Bill
SK [Silent Key = deceased operator]*

*use of the procedural signal 'SK' without the connector bar to run the characters together when sending CW [e.g. ...-.- ] equals silent key...no?

Given that I really enjoy reading and learning from your posts, Bill, I certainly hope you're not heading in toward the Silent Key status any time soon! Please give it a LOT of time to get to that 'senile' stage.... 😉 ! !

VY 73,

Rob, WA0RW (ex-WA2SPO)
Creating occasionally useful RF for at least 33 years.....
... and yes, I still remember vacuum tubes and building my own equipment!
 
Rob Wallace said:
..... Creating occasionally useful RF for at least 33 years.....
... and yes, I still remember vacuum tubes and building my own equipment!
Click to expand...

Ah, a youngster. Not a CW OP, I presume? OK, I'll slow down to 13 WPM so that you can follow.

AFAIK, there is no way to type an overhead line in ASCII to represent the continuous SK character (which means "end of message" in CW work). Your mention of it being used for a dead ham is the first time that I have heard of that use. There goes the King's English. 😀 (OK, maybe hams never did quite used any pure version of the English language).

73 means "best regards", or at least it did in my 1963 Handbook. It is used at the end of a transmission and not as a greeting at the beginning.

I also "remember" vacuum tubes since that was all that was available unless you want to count spark gaps and galena crystals. I was in tall cotton when I converted a WWII surplus BC-454 for 40-M and had my first "real" receiver that was suitable for serious use. Prior to that, I had a pre-war Hallicrafters with a VFO that warbled like a canary (not a good thing).
 
Believe it or not, AFAIK vacuum tubes are still available, but now made only in Russia and China.

My Dad changed frequencies on the old wall-size radio with alligator clips on a bare coil - about a jillion volts of RF. No wonder the operators had the nickname "Sparks."

As far as understanding Morse code goes, it was reported that in the Titanic disaster, there perished 1,200 souls AND two radio operators.😀
 
Joe Greiner said:
.... it was reported that in the Titanic disaster, there perished 1,200 souls AND two radio operators.😀
Click to expand...

I suppose that you know that "Forever" ended several years ago when the vacuum tubes sold by Radio Shack that were guaranteed forever ... were no longer guaranteed.

And ... it is true that radio operators have no soul. It was sold to buy radio gear back when money was scarce.

I still have my home-brew "antenna tuner" with the big coils and clips -- it went in the feed-line between the transmitter and antenna. You definitely don't want to adjust it while on the air.
 
Bill Boehme said:
I suppose that you know that "Forever" ended several years ago when the vacuum tubes sold by Radio Shack that were guaranteed forever ... were no longer guaranteed.
Click to expand...

Have you noticed the "Radio" is being phased out? Along with the drawers of capacitors, transistors, boards ....
 
Frankly, I'm still blown away by today's market for high-end audio amplifiers driven by vacuum tubes (aka valves). All lit up, they make some real knockout images, but I was never so thankful as when solid state components became the default and removed the nagging doubt and continual PITA of pulling tubes without burning yourself, testing, then wondering whether the results were accurate.

As great as today's silicon-based audio gear has become, I doubt that more than a tiny percentage of current tube-loving audiophiles ever went through those bad old days. The comparisons and marketing are practically an art form unto themselves, and you'd better be sitting down when you see the price 😱 of the replacement tube(s), not to mention the gear it's in.
 
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