A long while ago, the sports media began referring to Johnathan Thurston as JT.
Fair enough. He was the gun player of the time and everyone knew who he was, by full name or acronym.
Fast forward to 2019 and suddenly any player with a hyphenated name is suddenly an acronym. I blame rugby league radio and TV commentators for perpetuating this trend.
If I’m right, the player acronym rage began with JT, then morphed into three-letter acronyms. Code-switcher Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) was probably the first to be so honoured, then Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans (DCE).
Nicknames are not so bad – I mean, no-one knows Gus as Phillip Ronald Gould or PRG.
Then again, nicknames are only OK if they are in general use and not some footy commentator in-joke.
Fair go, it happens in the arts too. Examples include KMH (Kate Miller-Heidke) and the lead players in A Star is Born, BC (Bradley Cooper) and LGG (Lady Gaga). I have seen examples like this on social media, namely FB and the thing with the bird.
Perhaps it is just laziness – it’s far easier to say DWZ or RTS than get your tongue around Dallin Watene-Zelezniak or Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Sometimes it is not at all obvious to whom the commentators refer.
RGC? Took me a while to work out that was shorthand for Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
As for TPJ, even though I’m a Broncos tragic, it never occurred to me they were talking about Tevita Pangai Junior.
It’s so disrespectful. What do the mothers think? No-one would have ever referred to the great Darren Lockyer as DJL, or Wally Lewis as KWJL.
Or in other sports fields, can you imagine Evonne Goolagong Cawley described as YGC?
Acronyms abound in the public service, in academia and the armed forces. The army is so alive with acronyms that author Fred Smith included a glossary in the back of a book he wrote about his time as a diplomat in Afghanistan.
FOB (forward operating base), is one example, also PTSD (which has probably by now become a word).
FYI, an acronym – as any good dictionary will tell you – is an abbreviation formed from the initials of other words and pronounced as a word.
For example, when assistant coaches go on the field to assess a player after a head knock, they should make this disclaimer IANAD (internet speak for ‘I am not a doctor’). You get the picture, then.
The acronym craze is driving dedicated footy fans crazy, TBH.
It’s worse than commentators digressing into anecdotes about a current player’s grand-uncle who toured with Australia in 1947, or a debate about whether socks should be worn up or down.
ROFL.
Pickett
Guest
On the topic of pet peeves, if I see another roar article titled 'The good, the bad and the ugly of'..... then it will drive me to violence. There's already been 398 articles with this heading...and that was just last month.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
IDK, IMHO IDM (It Doesn't Matter). ;-)
Marty
Guest
What a waste of time that read was...
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
IMOH ????? What has the Iraqi Ministry of Health got to do with any of this ??
Paul
Roar Guru
fair enough, thanks for the explanation, Rabbitz. Maybe the correct terminology needs to be more widely disseminated? I too have friends with this disability and would hate to insult they or other sufferers by using the wrong terminology.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
It’s more than an acronym thing, Australian’s have a penchant for shortening names. Does someone called Kimberley not get called Kim? David/Dave, Peter/Pete etc etc, There are weird ones though, James/Jim/Jimbo.
Paul
Roar Guru
There's probably not a lot of chance you posting anything worth reading is there, Peter? A name very easy to ignore.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Evonne Cawley is spelt with an "E" not a "Y". I have more of an issue with idiots overusing the word "awesome", using "super" as an additional adjective e.g. "super stupid" & the phrase "moving forward". The Asian countries are way ahead of us. They view numeracy & literacy as vital ingredients.
Peter
Guest
Ban all TLAs (if you don’t already know, that’s a Three Letter Abbreviation).
Peter
Guest
Taking verbal queues from you? Oh I get it, we’re lining up to hear your message. God bless stupid automatic guess-ahead spelling.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge = great album.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Maybe 18 months ago. I work as a writer in defence and that has been the acceptable term for about that long.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
I'm also wondering why the author of this piece shortened his name to Wazza instead of his full name The Right Honourable Sir Warren Benchley-Pemberton-Hume.
Big Daddy
Guest
I think we should forget about Blues and Maroons as well. Long live the Cane Toads and Cockroaches.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
You're probably right MC. I just saved to 3 characters!
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm also thinking that if a player doesn't like the tag they've been given by some media DH, surely they can front a press conference and ask respectfully that people call them by what ever name? It's no different than players explaining how to pronounce unusual surnames.
Paul
Roar Guru
Wazza, I think your issue is about how people use shortcuts to communicate, but this is something we've all been doing for thousands of years? If I'm talking to you, you're taking verbal queues from my hand gestures, body language, etc, all of which are shortcuts to me saying what I actually mean. In this instance, people are using similar shortcuts to pass on messages in written form. I too find this annoying because I don't use social media and have no idea when some shortenings mean ( like ROFL), but at the end of the day, isn't this really about the evolution of communication?
Big Daddy
Guest
If you cast your minds back we had sponsor's initialisms as well. Canterbury had BFC which was "beg for cash" and the referees had TNT which was " that's no try ". But as they say what's in a name.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Rabbitz, when did PTSD become post traumatic stress only? I can find nothing to suggest the term PTSD is not still in common use, both by people in general, but especially with professionals in this field?
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Yes, there are two theories on the origin of the word. I don't know which one is right.