Short takes: INITIALISM

Cohen, Gerald Leonard gcohen at MST.EDU
Wed Mar 31 14:36:04 UTC 2010


Of possible interest too (for abbreviations in speech/writing): "K9 Corps" (canine), "Q8" (Kuweit), and "snafu/fubar"
 
Gerald Cohen

________________________________

Message from Laurence Horn, Wed 3/31/2010 9:17 AM:


Not counting "O.K." and other jocular abbreviations from that period,
as documented in detail by Allen Walker Read, I assume.  Possibly
O.K. is the only one from those years to have survived (as opposed to
e.g. "K.Y." for 'know yuse', i.e. 'no use', and others of that kind),
but one of my favorites (as posted here a few years back) is "b4" for
'before'.

LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list