what is with all these abbreviations???

I think it only take a few mins to type out what you really want to say so if you can, please do it helps out the newbies! And we all want to help each other out, I personally can't keep up with them either, had to ask someone last night what ASD was!
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So what did you find out? what is ASD? I couldn't find it on the chart up there.

Also need to add "togw" (The Other Guys Wax) on that list. (I just learned that one this week!)

I have mixed emotions about the abrv. I've spent the last 3 months spending usually at least an hour a day poking around on the forum reading new posts and going through old posts and am suprised at how many I've learned. IMO, IMHO, and WOWA. Those were the ones I found the most frustrating I thought "wowa factor?" does that really make the paint pop like people say "wow" when they look at the vehicle if a product was used that has a "wowa factor?"

So I guess while they were frustrating at first I kind of feel when I'm reading along now "hey that's cool I know what that abreviation means" but then when I come across ones that I don't already know I think "this is stupid why can't they just type what they mean"

I guess I hope the list of the abreviations I know keeps getting larger and the ones I don't keeps getting smaller
 
As forums have evolved, and in this case detailing discussion forums, it's the members themselves that have created this trend towards using acronyms instead of typing out entire words and part of the reason is because including the name of the manufacture and then the name of the product can make for some pretty long product names and some lengthy typing time every time you want to mention the name. For example the Brinkman Maxfire Dual Xenon Rechargeable Spotlight.

I'm a very fast typist and if you read enough of my posts my normal habit is to type the full name of a product out the first time I mention a product and then use the acronym afterwards for that product in subsequent mentions of it.

My guess is the initial reason forums drifted in the direction of acronyms is because not everyone likes to type or not everyone is even good at typing, let alone fast at it.

Now the trend in society is one of texting and that's a language unto itself. My personal preference is I'd rather not see texting language used on discussion forums if u know wt i mean.

:laughing:
 
SpotlessDetail said:
No I dont want to "get the hang of it" I dont have time for that. I want to read something and know what it is. I know there is a list as I previously stated but I refuse to "study it". As far as Meguiars products, saying the numbers is ok, after all they label their products by numbers. However I have yet to see a bottle with "ONRed", "2xSIP", "SIP", or any crap like that. They want customers to know what their talking about so they spell it out for everyone. Sorry if that sounded rude. Thanks for everyones input.
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I understand that you want everyone to change the way they currently do it, so they can adapt to the way that you and some others (6 who have posted) want it, but think of what you are saying.

I agree, it would be helpful to skip some of the acronyms and just type out what you are talking about. But I have also been on message boards long enough to see that certain trends do not change. When I first came to the AG forum, I realized that the trend was with these acronyms, and I adapted. I kept the above list bookmarked, and if I came across one I didn't know, I'd search for it. Now I don't have much trouble reading the posts, but I still have to look to a list sometimes. I figure if you want to join up with something that is already in motion, you get up to speed, or you fall off the wagon - not stop it to get on.

I totally understand what you are saying (just read your post I quoted and it isn't hard to figure out). However, to say that you are not going to give a little and expect everyone else conform to how you want it is pretty selfish, and unreasonable.

:props:

And just to note - I have seen most (if not all) of you who hate the acronyms use some, so they can't be that bad, right? :D

DLB
 
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Dalton Blevins said:
I understand that you want everyone to change the way they currently do it, so they can adapt to the way that you and some others (6 who have posted) want it, but think of what you are saying.

I agree, it would be helpful to skip some of the acronyms and just type out what you are talking about. But I have also been on message boards long enough to see that certain trends do not change. When I first came to the AG forum, I realized that the trend was with these acronyms, and I adapted. I kept the above list bookmarked, and if I came across one I didn't know, I'd search for it. Now I don't have much trouble reading the posts, but I still have to look to a list sometimes. I figure if you want to join up with something that is already in motion, you get up to speed, or you fall off the wagon - not stop it to get on.

I totally understand what you are saying (just read your post I quoted and it isn't hard to figure out). However, to say that you are not going to give a little and expect everyone else conform to how you want it is pretty selfish, and unreasonable.

:props:

DLB
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:iagree:If I know it is a newbie I'll put the full name in parentheses next to the abbreviation. Bottom line is that it's not going to stop. We are all creatures of habit on here, espeacially detailer. A lot of people have gotten used to it, so can you.
 
Acronyms for products are one thing but creating an acronym for tasks and other observations/items we encounter during the normal course of a detail gets to be a bit much.
 
Thanks for the list Sparkie, it has officially been bookmarked, will soon be downloaded, eventually converted into an excel file, and ultimately broken down into flash cards. Some great points have been made on both sides of the argument. As a "lurker" I have picked up a great many of the acronyms used here on a regular basis however, as a noob or newbie a number of the more complicated or obscure ones still throw me a bit. I will take the time to learn because ultimately it will be easier for me to understand than to expect the entire forum community to change their posting ways.

By the way, I picked up a cheap foam gun at PB, used a new WM, CB'd, hit the fender wells and engine compartment with APC+, dried it down with a WW, dressed it with 303, hit the headlights with some #17 and #18, and can't wait to use my PPCL and PS on the ride this weekend.

I could not resist. Abbreviations feel so good! :wave:
 
SpotlessDetail said:
I think your missing the point.
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I get your point. I am on another detailing forum that I post on a lot more than this one.

While I understand the abbreviations that people use very well, I try to not use abreviations simply because most people that come onto a forum are there to learn, don't visit all that often and they don't want to take the time to check a list for new (and sometimes ridiculous) abbreviations. Plus, if you have multiple abrreviations in one post, they have to keep looking to the "key" to figure out what they mean. This is very frustrating and it sometimes hinders the readers understanding of the post.

If I am writing a post about a prominent product that will be talked about a lot in a thread, I will write it out and abbreviate it in parenthesis beside it in the first post or sentence and then abbreviate it in subsequent posts or sentences.

Most people that are "senior" members on a forum and are prominent posters forget that most of the people that read their posts don't deal with this stuff daily. I try not to forget that.

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Now the trend in society is one of texting and that's a language unto itself. My personal preference is I'd rather not see texting language used on discussion forums if u know wt i mean.
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I write complete sentences and full words when texting. I HATE "text" writing.
 
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jfntwo said:
Thanks for the list Sparkie, it has officially been bookmarked, will soon be downloaded, eventually converted into an excel file, and ultimately broken down into flash cards. Some great points have been made on both sides of the argument. As a "lurker" I have picked up a great many of the acronyms used here on a regular basis however, as a noob or newbie a number of the more complicated or obscure ones still throw me a bit. I will take the time to learn because ultimately it will be easier for me to understand than to expect the entire forum community to change their posting ways.

By the way, I picked up a cheap foam gun at PB, used a new WM, CB'd, hit the fender wells and engine compartment with APC+, dried it down with a WW, dressed it with 303, hit the headlights with some #17 and #18, and can't wait to use my PPCL and PS on the ride this weekend.

I could not resist. Abbreviations feel so good! :wave:
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Heres the thing I, tend to agree the fewer abbreviations the better. The funny part is I think I understood everything you said up to PPCL and PS :D its probably something simple too. Anyway, I've been in that position before, of reading a post I was really interested in, and not understanding what products were that are being talked about. I would keep reading to see if anyone else spelled it out and they all used the abbreviation too so I just moved on to something else.

loudog2
"If I know it is a newbie I'll put the full name in parentheses next to the abbreviation."

Knowing someone is a noob is also only beneficial if your responding to a thread and they say as much. What happens if someone more experienced is posting with all these abbreviations and a noob is trying to learn something.

All this being said I agree the few are not going to change the many, and the longer you are here the easier it becomes. But maybe, a compromise:

Mike Phillips
"my normal habit is to type the full name of a product out the first time I mention a product and then use the acronym afterwards for that product in subsequent mentions of it."

Its like going to a foreign country you wouldn't expect them to stop speaking there language..... but if someone spoke a little english they might try to say something so you could understand. If we cant find any one to speak our language we may have to just learn a theirs.
 
Im new and this is a GREAT forum,but these abbreviations are to much for a newbe.Theres a chart or whatever to them somewhere?
 
Learning the code is just part of the fun....
 
Hopefully a moderator will see this and comment on it.
From another post:
Dalton Blevins said:
I think what some of us would like to see is this:
ForumPopup.jpg

This is from Autopia, which I think AG sponsors. Maybe they could help with this if you decided to go this route.

I know it sure would be nice to see a mini-info box with a link to the AG store when you mouseover an acronym.

Stephen's spreadsheet would aid in this tremendously for your web tech.

Some people probably wouldn't like that, but there should be a way to turn it off in the User CP.

DLB
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Meghan said:
I think it only take a few mins to type out what you really want to say so if you can, please do it helps out the newbies!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you. You've all been pretty helpful with this noob's introduction to the finer points of detailing, but I can't help but sit here sometimes and get discouraged because I'm clueless as to a certain three-letter abbreviation.

It just makes me think, "Ahhh, you took the time to help others out by posting a huge write up, yet some words just couldn't get full attention?"

This age of texting is killing me sometimes.

In general, thanks again to all of you for your tips, tricks, and shared knowledge, but here's hoping we can all start to go that extra mile for each other! :xyxthumbs:
 
I agree brother, its pretty rediculous how many abreviations people use. Its a major pain in the buttocks
 
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