I miss the threads, and other gripes

[Tony]

Hi Angela,

Whilst I admire the new submission form and the unsuccesful search list, I miss the 'banter' of the "old ways" (I'm a true blue, dyed-in-the-wool, reactionary conservative, opposed-to-chaneg-at-all-costs!)

One felt that one's efforts were likely to be seen by others and that they could be improved on, or amended. That's missing from the new system.

Also..... I was given an 80& purity rating by some officious little computer-in-a-uniform (which will probably say "I was only doing my job!", or worse, "I was just obeying orders!"

I had dared to submit an expansion for PILL
amd the last "L" was expanded as "Love-making". Now while Chambers doesn't hyphenate it, Websters does - and so do a lot of others.

I demand that the computer-in-a-uniform be stripped of any rank and demoted to printing barcodes for supermarkets.

BARCODES
"Black-and-white Arrangement" Reading Computers Offer Dealers Enhanced Stocktaking

.... I suppose the Official Verifier and Purity Tester would downgrade that from what I would consider 100% - no extraneous words!

:-)

[Angela]

>>> On 20 July 2002 14:51:35 UTC, Tony wrote:

Whilst I admire the new submission form and the unsuccesful search list, I miss the 'banter' of the "old ways" (I'm a true blue, dyed-in-the-wool, reactionary conservative, opposed-to-chaneg-at-all-costs!)

And I replied:
So am I, it sounds like chaneg would be the evil robot master in a science fiction story.

As I think I mentioned when I announced the submission form, you're free to post your expansions here instead of using the form. I also anticipated that somebody might want me to continue posting the unsuccessful searches here too. Should I?

Tony also said:
One felt that one's efforts were likely to be seen by others and that they could be improved on, or amended. That's missing from the new system.

So I replied:
It's not missing... the option is still there. It's just not compulsory. (Actually, you could always have emailed expansions to me rather than posting them here, so it was never compulsory to post them here... just more strongly encouraged.)

Tony also complained that:
Also..... I was given an 80& purity rating by some officious little computer-in-a-uniform (which will probably say "I was only doing my job!", or worse, "I was just obeying orders!"

And I asked:
Is computer-in-a-uniform one word or four, in your opinion?

Tony said:
I had dared to submit an expansion for PILL
amd the last "L" was expanded as "Love-making". Now while Chambers doesn't hyphenate it, Websters does - and so do a lot of others.

To which I replied:
And if Websters hyphenates it, then Websters considers it to be two words, just handily stuck together with a hyphen. So it does degrade your acronym a little. Most 'purity tests' you'll find online would probably agree that love-making (or lovemaking) is an impure activity.

Tony also put forward:
BARCODES
"Black-and-white Arrangement" Reading Computers Offer Dealers Enhanced Stocktaking

.... I suppose the Official Verifier and Purity Tester would downgrade that from what I would consider 100% - no extraneous words!

And my response was:
Black-and-white is not one word! That's cheating! I agree with the computer in a uniform on this one, it's not a 100% pure acronym.

By the way, it's not a uniform, it's a tuxedo... the server is running Linux so I presume it'd be dressed like Tux the penguin.

Should I add a checkbox to the submission form saying I-am-Tony-so-consider-anything-hyphenated-as-one-word?

[Tony]

 Angela wrote:

> Tony said:
>> I had dared to submit an expansion for PILL and the last "L" was expanded as "Love-making". Now while Chambers doesn't hyphenate it, Websters does - and so do a lot of others.

> To which I replied:
And if Websters hyphenates it, then Websters considers it to be two words, just handily stuck together with a hyphen.
"Handily Stuck Together" makes it a valid one-letter expanding 'word' - one does speak of something being 'a hyphenated word', not of something being 'hyphenated words'!


> Tony also put forward:
>> BARCODES
>> "Black-and-white Arrangement" Reading Computers Offer Dealers Enhanced Stocktaking

>>. .... I suppose the Official Verifier and Purity Tester would downgrade that from what I would consider 100% - no extraneous words!

> And my response was:
Black-and-white is not one word! That's cheating! I agree with the computer in a uniform on this one, it's not a 100% pure acronym.

"Black-and-white" is a valid expression which must be allowable as a valid expander of "b"

> Should I add a checkbox to the submission form saying I-am-Tony-so-consider-anything-hyphenated-as-one-word?

I'd prefer a button saying "I-am-Tony-so-bow-before-me-ye-puny-beings" but I think that would be going too far ;-)
In all seriousness, I think that hyphenation must be allowed if the word/phrase is a common expression.

[Angela]

Hyphenation is certainly allowed - here's a tip from Tony (although I think added the sentence in brackets at the end):

Remember that a hyphenated word can be used for the expansion of either one or two letters.
Half-baked could be used for 'H' or Half-Baked for 'HB'. (Although I'm not sure how often you'll find a word containing 'HB')

 But in my opinion an acronym is of slightly lower quality if extra words are snuck in by turning a phrase into one long hyphenated word. Usually if the word/phrase is very common and commonly regarded as being a singled word, it is allowed without the hyphen anyway - like lovemaking. I would have no qualms about using Half-baked in an expansion but I was especially proud when I managed to do one with Half-Baked. (see http://acronyms.co.nz/cgi-bin/gonym?FRESH+BREAD)

Don't be offended by the computer-in-a-tuxedo's purity rating, if you think your acronym is 100% pure then just ignore it. But the purity rating is a reminder that the acronym could be improved. Of course, almost every acronym can be improved, but this kind of 'purity' is a way the computer can point out exactly which part of the acronym could stand to be most improved.

[Angela]

Due to server problems I have been unable to update the unsuccessful searches page for a while, so here is the full list:

KARIN
BRUNO
JEANNE
JUGHEAD
LARRY
TARBELL
ENDOCRINE GLANDS
MAINTENANCE
CLINICAL INFORMATION
CREATIVE WEDDINGS
RIETVELD
DARTH VADER
JEDI KNIGHT
COROLLA
SAVING NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
GROUP THAT SAVES SCHOOLS
NEW PROFESSIONALS
GARRETT
RECRUITING AND RETENTION
CHATTER BOX
MUNTED
COMMUNION
POST GRADUATE STUDENT
HELSINKI
RESEARCH ON AGING
QUALITY LIFE
BY THE WAY
PUT A SOCK ON IT
DEBUGGER
HAZEL
HURTS TO BE A CARRIER
MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY EINSTEIN
FIELD DAY
MONIQUE
MUMFORD
HOWARD
MARTIN
MORTON
OUT OF HERE
RADIOHEAD
SWEET PEA
SAN FRANCISCO
ACTON
SARAH
JEEPERS CREEPERS
HILLBILLY
CLOUD 9
ZIFF
SNELL
CORVETTE
ANUBIS
CODY
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
WHATEVER
POPCORN
BUBBLE
BORING
UNKNOWN
BROOCH
PLAYSTATION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
BRANDING
7 LETTERS
DATA CENTRALIZATION
NICKELBACK
BROKE FEMALE
DIVORCED FEMALE
FEMALE DIVORCED
PRIZES
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
STAGE FRIGHT
LOUISE
STUART
SALES AND MARKETING
CONSUMER TRADING PRACTICES
WHAT ARE ACRONYMS?
WHAT DOES FLAG STAND FOR
HOMELAND
HOME LAND
KINDERGARTEN LITERACY
KINDERGARTEN LITERACY PARENT WORKSHOP
NET PRESENT VALUE
ARCHAEOLOGY
YUPPIES
BRYCE
MODULE
I LIKE SWORDS
EDITORIAL GLOBAL PROJECT
RISK MANAGEMENT
INSULIN BALANCE TRIAL
BY THE WAY
UNCLE SAM
UNIFORM

[Tony]

>>> On 18 September 2002 07:01:12 UTC, Angela wrote:

Due to server problems I have been unable to update the unsuccessful searches page for a while, so here is the full list:

> KARIN
> BRUNO
> JEANNE
> LARRY

I don't know about anyone else on this site, but I'm fed up with attempting to do expansions for the names of people I don't know..... maybe we should indicate that we don't 'do' names as one needs to know a little about the person to make a suitable expansion.

> SAVING NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
> GROUP THAT SAVES SCHOOLS
> HURTS TO BE A CARRIER
> CONSUMER TRADING PRACTICES
> KINDERGARTEN LITERACY PARENT

Some people ask for weird stuff, and I'm not going to bite :-)

UNIFORM
Users Need Individual Fittings, Or Result's Messy

[Angela]

>>> On 18 September 2002 07:36:40 UTC, Tony wrote:
I don't know about anyone else on this site, but I'm fed up with attempting to do expansions for the names of people I don't know..... maybe we should indicate that we don't 'do' names as one needs to know a little about the person to make a suitable expansion.

I'll change the search engine a bit to make sure it says that if you're searching for a name, you should post on the forums with information about the person.


UNIFORM
Unloved Necessity... Imposition From Our Rule-Makers.

[Tony]

Angela wrote:

> UNIFORM
> Unloved Necessity... Imposition From Our Rule-Makers.

Usually Not In Fashion, Often Rather Mediocre

[Angela]

>>> On 19 September 2002 20:45:41 UTC, Tony wrote:

Angela wrote:

> UNIFORM
> Unloved Necessity... Imposition From Our Rule-Makers.

Usually Not In Fashion, Often Rather Mediocre

But thinking of the adjective meaning of uniform:

Unquestioning Nonvariance *Is* Fashion... Others Reflect Me!

or

Unquestioning Nature... I'll Form Opinions Resembling Master's.

Usually Neighbour Isn't Far Off Repeating Myself

[Angela]

UNIFORM[ITY] (I'm not sure whether to have the last three words)

Unlikely - Nature Is Full Of Renegade Minds, I Tell You!

I wanted to do something with MANIFOLD
...Nature Is Full Of Living Diversity

[Tony]

>>> On 20 September 2002 05:05:45 UTC, Angela wrote:

I wanted to do something with MANIFOLD
...Nature Is Full Of Living Diversity

Much About Nature Is Fill Of Living Diversity?

[Angela]

>>> On 20 September 2002 07:18:22 UTC, Tony wrote:

Much About Nature Is Fill Of Living Diversity?

That'll do (with Full instead of Fill.)

I'll update the site tomorrow probably... by the way, not long after posting the unsuccessful searches here I was able to upload them to the server. I haven't updated the list today yet.