Rsum for R ésumé

[Michael McKernan]

Subscribing to the online NYT, I receive emails containing links to headline
stories.  For at least a year, I've been noticing that these NYT emails
always substitute rsum for résumé.  Thinking this was a "texting effect" or
something like that, I ignored it until today, when I checked a bunch of the
emails against the actual stories in the online NYT.  What I found was that
while the email would read:

Editor's Impact Begins With a Capital O
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Susan Casey's rsum includes chasing great white
sharks, but her latest challenge is remaking O magazine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/business/media/02oprah.html?th&emc=th

the actual text of the article would use résumé, complete with accent marks.

This made me realize that it was probably the email text generator which was
automatically removing the two accented e characters (unable to deal with
them, I suppose) rather than a writer or editor deliberately choosing to use
"rsum."

A search of ADS-L archives does not show any discussion of rsum.

But googling rsum does show some usage of this truncation (along with
considerable discussion of the unrelated programming variable "rsum"):

Resume Ideas For Accounting Infusing Your Accounting *Rsum* With
*...*<http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Resume-Ideas-For-Accounting-Infusing-Your-Accounting-Rsum-With-Quantifiable-Results/1372658>
Jul 24, 2010 *...* As the job market continues to be about as tight as an
angry boa constrictor, you need to take a "YOU" attitude in your *rsum* and
show quantifiable results *...*
www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Resume-Ideas...*Rsum*.../1372658 -
Cached<http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BwbNkqjJa9EJ:www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Resume-Ideas-For-Accounting-Infusing-Your-Accounting-Rsum-With-Quantifiable-Results/1372658+rsum&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=gmail>

Watercooler: Rejuvenate *rsum* for job hunt | Technology > Software
*...*<http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=48&ved=0CDAQFjAHOCg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allbusiness.com%2Flabor-employment%2Fhuman-resources-personnel%2F13741240-1.html&ei=2xBXTOzrG4vUtQO4kpilDA&usg=AFQjCNFlvqUHM6wCac34h5uCIlWiGHYYYQ&sig2=MSGfqc_3KEavcHk38ffoHQ>
Jan 17, 2010 *...* Whether you're out of work or browsing for new
opportunities, keeping your *rsum* fresh and available in the right online
locations could help *...*
www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/human.../13741240-1.html -
Cached<http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0N-SQXtn2KQJ:www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/human-resources-personnel/13741240-1.html+rsum&cd=48&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=gmail>

This second example turns out to be an AP story:

Watercooler: Rejuvenate rsum for job huntBy TALI ARBEL, TALI ARBEL
Associated Press
Publication: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Date: Sunday, January 17
2010<http://www.allbusiness.com/lexisnexis/20100117/13714960-1.html>

While the online text for this article consistently uses "rsum," it's of
course unclear if this is an automatic, software-generated truncation to
avoid the accented-e characters.

Some online sources list "rsum" as an abbreviation:

Urban Dictionary: *rsum*<http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rsum>
 - 10:19am
Dec 7, 2006 *...* buy *rsum* mugs, tshirts and magnets. Shorthand for
"resume". "Send us your *rsum* via e-mail to apply for this position." *...*
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=*rsum* -
Cached<http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EXKdsT3dW10J:www.urbandictionary.com/define.php%3Fterm%3Drsum+rsum&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=gmail>-
Similar<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=gmail&rls=gm&q=related:www.urbandictionary.com/define.php%3Fterm%3Drsum+rsum&tbo=1&sa=X&ei=qBJXTLL3NYvksQPil7jZAg&ved=0CBUQHzAA>

While there's not much to be gained, space-wise, from leaving out two
characters, I suppose that for those typists fastidious enough to want to
include the accents, rsum would offer considerable savings of effort.

I'm curious about whether rsum has actually made a significant entrance into
the language of human speakers and writers, or if it is mostly an artifact
of software limitations.  Does anyone say "r-sum" instead of résumé?

I'd also be interested to learn if anyone receives this email with all of my
carefully typed résumés truncated to rsums.

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