| Author | Message | ||
| R. TERRY (205.188.209.11)
Rating: N/A |
I wrote to Ian Giffin, our Boss Busnut, about acronym soup, the alphabetical gibberish that has seeped into our written Internet conversations to take the place of everyday phrases like, “for what it’s worth”. I blame courtroom reporters for this - they are the shortcut kings, and we have become shortcut crazy, and it all started with beer — Bring Your Own Beer! Yes, BYOB is the main reason we now say IMHO, IMBE, OTOH, FWIW, HTH, BTW, IMOA, etc. Well, not all of us are chatroom savvy and some of us don’t even know how to use the Shift key to produce a capital letter (OK, maybe some of us are just LAZY!). So I asked Ian if it would be possible to include an Acronym Glossary in the BNO website. He replied, “I think the acronym thing is a great idea!! Why don't you start us off on THE BOARD with an explanation of where you want to go with the thread and provide a couple of selections.” As I thought about this, I realized that there are a lot of other acronyms germane to Busnuts such as DDEC, -TA, DD3, HVAC, FMCA, RVAA, etc. And then there are the most commonly used number-and-letter terms, 6V71, 8V71, 6V92TA, etc., which are model numbers, not necessarily acronyms, but for which Newbies frequently need a definition. To further that thought, I have often wondered, What is a miter box and why is it only mentioned in context with Eagles? What’s a PTO, and do all engines have one? What is the difference between Shepard Steering and, say, sheep dog steering? (My 4104 has sheep dog steering, believe me!) To me, these are things that could very nicely fill a Busnut Glossary. Here’s another idea for the glossary: Silkaflex. This pops up all the time, as in scroll down. Adding brand name products commonly used in the bus conversion process along with their respective website addresses would, IMHO, be a big help. So, what do you think? I propose we include a Glossary of Terms, Acronyms, and Products to the BNO website. An instant reference. Answers to commonly asked questions. And, a great resource for all Busnuts, particularly those who are new to the hobby. This will free up a lot of space for more meaningful dialogue about Fast Fred’s opinions, the DMV’s bureaucratic idiocy, and the raging debate between the RTS and ALL other buses with baggage bays! Let us not forget that BYOB actually means, Bring Your Own BUS! R. TERRY | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.154)
Rating: N/A |
Great idea....and super post, R.Terry... What's the "R" for? KUTGW! (keep up the good work) and, KTF!(remnant of the 60's) WPFY!! (we're pulling for you).  RCB (see address) | ||
| John Biundo (Jbiundo) (67.112.121.112)
Rating: N/A |
I like it, but can we also include a Fast Fred to english dictionary? Noisemaker = Genset Carbunkle = Rooftop air Da Book = Maintenance Manual etc. Or maybe not... would that spoil the fun for newbies? ;-) john | ||
| R. TERRY (64.12.96.235)
Rating: N/A |
--John, your idea is even better than mine! --RCB, the R stands for Randy, Randall, Randolf (your choice), or, "Hey, You!" Family just calls me "R". --SLO (who e-mailed me), brought to my attention another need for a good Busnut Glossary: Correct spelling, as in Sikaflex (Now, how is it pronounced?). I pointed out that Sheppard was also misspelled. I am taking notes on all the input for this glossary idea. If we get a decent response -- go ahead, sock it to me --, I am sure Ian will give it worthy consideration and hopefully provide a space for this resource. I will organize the information, edit it for accuracy, verify web addresses, etc., and present it to him in a ready-to-use form. So keep the comments coming. If we do this right, in the future we can use all of our new acronyms to condense the whole BOARD down to 18 giant contractions, all in capital letters! Fun reading, huh? R. TERRY | ||
| John Biundo (Jbiundo) (67.112.121.112)
Rating: N/A |
Seems like a winner to me. I'd be glad to help with some definitions, though I'm one of the least experienced members of this group. Seems to me we need some organizing principle to get started. Could be as simple as: start firing terms to "R" (without definitions initially) who can collect them up and publish a list of terms after some reasonable time ("R", see how I "organized" you into that responsibility? That's what you get for coming up with the idea, or as my boss used to say, "no good deed goes unpunished" ;-) The list could be organized by topic area, or simply alphabetically. Then folks could carve out pieces and start defining terms. I can tell this is sounding a little bit anal, but I've done many group documentation projects and it's easy for folks to start stepping on each other's toes. So... the next thing to worry about is that when someone is going to grab some terms to define, they can "check them out" by posting a message here ("I'm planning to define 'carbunkle', 'da book', etc."). When they're done, the definitions go to "R", who maintains the master list with definitions and publishes it periodically. Sounds alot more complicated than it really is (re-reading this, even I'M put off! this sounds like WORK), but I think it would avoid the problem of more than one person working on the same item at once, which would quickly be frustrating, not to mention leaving "R" with the messy job of choosing the best one. FWIW, IMHO, my .02 worth. ;-) | ||
| R.C. Bishop (128.123.221.186)
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Ralph Charles Bishop.......now you know why I use RCB...... I'm with John, sounds like work...but not entirely put off... ASIG (and so it goes) Ralph Charles(Chuck, Charlie, Chuckles, et al )Bishop | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
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WOW, what a great idea. After several years of reading various boards, I still find puzzling acronyms that I have no idea what they mean. Richard | ||
| David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (64.24.236.197)
Rating: N/A |
When reading some of the posts, it does get confusing, especially when it gets into the mechanical stuff. Not everyone is up on the mechanics of diesel engines. Don't give me any crap about me being a GIRL! After all I had a friend put Porsche fuel injectors in my VW once and I did put a tune up on my old Caddy once (that was enough). I'm also the one who does ALL the research (ie: surf all over the internet, wade thru all the messages/arguments) to find the info for my hubby who doesn't even know where the on switch for the computer is. As a "newbie" (Had bus 1 yr as of Oct) the "lingo" that is commonly used is quite confusing. Sometimes it takes a few posts (& message boards) to figure it out. Then the acronyms are sometimes mind boggling. but when you look at something like "TNSTAAFL", which I believe is FF -Fast Fred's way of saying 'There's no such thing as a free lunch', It becomes understandable. My kids have found a web site that explains the "Geek Code" www.geekcode.com which they ran into under somebody's name. Perhaps you could put the "dictionary" on a website that will link to the other bus sites. At any rate...you sure have your work cut out for you! Lorna | ||
| Ian Giffin (Admin) (64.228.55.167)
Rating: N/A |
Hi folks, Ok, there's a new section of the bbs for you to play in!! Knock yourselves out. And, hey, keep it clean :-) Regards, Ian Giffin www.busnut.com | ||
| R. TERRY (64.12.96.235)
Rating: N/A |
Ian, Did you mean, KYO (knock yourselves out) and KIC (keep it clean)? Sounds bueno! Thank you very much! I will contact you shortly. (I have one more idea that may be of general interest.) R. TERRY |