Friday NVC.

Others have already pointed out that the source of the annoying e-mails was
not the Vanagon List, and it seems you have an idea as to what happened;
end of story there.

However, in reference to the use of the terms DIY, and EFI, it was
said, "Abbreviations have a worse effect than tires!", seemingly implying
that such abbreviations are as annoying as another tire thread.  Curious.
Abbreviations, or more specifically in this instance, initialisms, are
quite useful, a form of shorthand, if you will, that facilitates
communication, verbal or written.

In any given week on this list, we are likely to encounter all or some of
the following abbreviations: VW, OEM, ECU, ICV, ICU, MAFS, LED, EFI, OXS,
TPS, RPM, and NVC, to name a few.  Surely we don't want to write out the
full group of words to which these abbreviations refer.  Similarly, in the
context of a forum such as this, abbreviations such as AFAIK, IMHO, YMMV,
are real time savers, and if not over-used, do not in any way degrade the
content of the messages.

Abbreviations are also ubiquitous in the larger world beyond this list;
when was the last time you heard anyone say National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, rather than its acronym, NASA?  Sometimes, an acronym so
thoroughly embeds itself in the lexicon, that the underlying group of words
it represents is lost; how many amoung us remember, or ever knew, the group
of words represented by RADAR, or LASER?  These words are now rarely
written as acronyms, i.e. in capital letters, but rather, simply radar and
laser.  Or consider the acronym, SNAFU, from WWII.  This is sometimes heard
in polite company, the user seemingly unaware of its crude origins.

Should abbreviations be eliminated, government in general, and the military
in particular, would likely cease to function; in the absence of acronyms,
how would they ever name a department or program or weapons system?

So, keep those abbreviations coming; they exist for a reason, sometimes add
interest to the lexicon, and in the case of some acronyms can be rather
humorous.  If I encounter an abbreviation I don't know, I shall look it up,
as I would any other word about whose meaning I am unclear.

Sent a few hours into Saturday, in response to a Friday topic.