Using Acronyms

[JohnyPython]

Best acronym IMO - BOHICA

Bend over here it comes again

Some of the automotive related acronyms found here

FMIC, OCI, OM, RTFOM, IWE, FP etc

 

[Oldfart]

I Google stuff ALL the time, especially texting slang. I've ended up learning a fair amount of it by now. Here's a few acronyms I learned that should help you.

· ATD: At The Doctors

· BFF: Best Friend Fell

· BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

· BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

· FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

· GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low

· GHA: Got Heartburn Again

· IMHO: Is My Hearing Aid On?

· LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

· OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

 

[GordoJay]

Best acronym IMO - BOHICA

Bend over here it comes again

I guess that depends on whether you're saying it or hearing it ...

 

[EmbDriver]

Snafu-*****

 

[CoronaRaptor]

I think he likes us! Anyway, if you don't know what something is we will always explain it to you. Never heard of anybody having a problem before, lots of members ask "what is that?". It's not such a big deal.

 

[sixshooter_45]

I Google stuff ALL the time, especially texting slang. I've ended up learning a fair amount of it by now. Here's a few acronyms I learned that should help you.

· ATD: At The Doctors

· BFF: Best Friend Fell

· BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

· BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

· FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

· GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low

· GHA: Got Heartburn Again

· IMHO: Is My Hearing Aid On?

· LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

· OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

Or

· BTW: Bring The Wheelchair or
By the way

· FWIW: Forgot Where I Was or
For What It's Worth

· IMHO: Is My Hearing Aid On? or
In My Humble Opinion

 

[Helopilot]

Trust me, when you get the grinding you will figure out what IWE means. What kills me is the idiots at some of the dealerships who give you a blank stare when you tell them you’ve got an IWE issue with the truck. You will pretty much be guaranteed at least 2 trips to the dealership because they love the “could not duplicate the issue” response. My truck had issues with it before I had 11k miles on it. I started discussing lemon laws when I brought the truck in the second time and they decided they would just go ahead and replace the parts needed to fix the issue even though they couldn’t duplicate the problem a second time. Amazingly enough my truck hasn’t had an IWE issue since then. The wife’s truck had it start up two weeks ago at 37k miles. It was -38 Fahrenheit outside when it happened and fortunately the problem went away when the polarpocolypse subsided and the temps came back up to sane numbers. The IWE problem seems to be as common as F150’s on the road!

 

[Venerous]

Part of the problem also lies in the fact that those (especially with the knowledge) don't want to sift through a 5 page dissertation on a subject just to get to the point. One could build in a link if they were so inclined to explain what UCAs https://www.google.com/search?ei=z9...C4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz are but even this can make posts long and cumbersome to read. So, most of us err on the side of speaking to an intelligent audience rather than expecting that no one knows anything about what we're talking about. There's also the fact that there is no way to gauge what people know already and what they don't. So if you mention a B pillar for instance, are you going to take 3 lines of text to explain what it is and where to find it... for everything... in every post? I'm sure that there are some that enjoy being spoon-fed all the answers without leaving a post but most who are passionate about something tend to have the initiative and motivation to learn more about it. To each their own. Post how you want, everyone. YOLO, YK? JK

 

[GordoJay]

Part of the problem also lies in the fact that those (especially with the knowledge) don't want to sift through a 5 page dissertation on a subject just to get to the point. One could build in a link if they were so inclined to explain what UCAs https://www.google.com/search?ei=z9I1YLb2B_Gs0PEPiouP-A0&q=what+is+an+upper+control+arm&oq=what's+an+upper+co&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYADIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOggIABCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQxwEQowI6DgguELEDEIMBEMcBEKMCOgUIABCxAzoICC4QsQMQgwE6BAgAEEM6AggAOgUIABDJAzoFCAAQkgM6BAgAEAo6CggAELEDEEYQ-QE6CAgAEBYQChAeUP09WKBlYJ51aABwAngAgAGPAYgB0AuSAQQxOC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz are but even this can make posts long and cumbersome to read. So, most of us err on the side of speaking to an intelligent audience rather than expecting that no one knows anything about what we're talking about. There's also the fact that there is no way to gauge what people know already and what they don't. So if you mention a B pillar for instance, are you going to take 3 lines of text to explain what it is and where to find it... for everything... in every post? I'm sure that there are some that enjoy being spoon-fed all the answers without leaving a post but most who are passionate about something tend to have the initiative and motivation to learn more about it. To each their own. Post how you want, everyone. YOLO, YK? JK

But ... if you're posting to an RV group, maybe it's best to assume that the reader forgot what it meant. Even if it was spelled out in the previous post. LOL Sucks getting old, but it sure beats the alternative.

 

[Jakenbake]

I may take a beating for this, but I'll say it anyways. I'm a 65 year old Raptor owner, I do all my own servicing, mods and work on my vehicles, since I was 16. Unfortunately, as I get older and more things become electronically operated, I'm being pushed out of doing a lot of work on newer vehicles.

I come on here to read about products and issues that people post about. I try to contribute, but I'm limited to more mechanical mods, like adding AMP running boards, toneau cover, etc.

So here's my issue......people post on here using all types of acronyms and terminology that only a few understand. As an example, there is a post running about the IWE vacuum hose. Someone asked what the acronym stood for and another answered, but that was it.

When I post about something technical, like on my motor home, I first explain what the item is and how it works and then I talk about what I did. This forum would be so much BETTER, if people would take into account that not everyone is on the same technical level.

So it would greatly help if something like the IWE is identified and explained, then everyone can understand the issue. I read the entire post and I still don't know what it does.

In a lot of day to day “technical” writing it is common to say things like: Integrated wheel end (IWE) and then refer to it as IWE from there on. Technical writing is often (not always) written for an audience that doesn’t have time to look up what it means or only has a high level of understanding on the topic. It is also used to CYA for the writer to be as clear as possible. Relating that to a forum post, that would be the equivalent of a first post on say a how to thread. A lot of other thread types of threads are asking for opinions, help, etc from a pretty narrow audience that has a pretty good understanding of the topics being discussed.

It probably depends on how the hypothetical “you” uses the forum.

Do you google a question to find a thread on what an issue is or how to fix something? In which case have the acronyms spelled out would save you time. Time which most likely would be important since most people research a problem as it is encountered.

Other option is people who hang out here frequently talk to the same people and use the same lingo. Would make it be unnecessarily bulky to spell out acronyms in this instance and seems to make sense to do so only when asked.

I do agree that when asked “what is IWE” it is just as easy to tell them what it is vs telling them to look it up.

It is different to ask “will 37’s will fit?”.