{"id":30981,"date":"2018-05-03T11:38:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T15:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=30981"},"modified":"2018-05-03T11:38:30","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T15:38:30","slug":"why-genealogists-might-want-to-eliminate-abbreviations-and-acronyms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/why-genealogists-might-want-to-eliminate-abbreviations-and-acronyms.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Genealogists Might Want to Eliminate Abbreviations and Acronyms!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak writes about how abbreviations and acronyms change meaning over time \u2013 and what the implication of this is for genealogists. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<\/em><\/p>\n

While perusing social media genealogy sites, I often come across the \u201cwhat does this mean\u201d questions.<\/p>\n

With regularity, researchers wonder what something means. Often, I go to my browser and ask by writing \u201cdefine\u201d followed by the unknown term. Recently, I discovered something important: many address abbreviations have long lost their meaning, and initials mean different things in different circumstances. Read on to see some examples that either have lost their meaning or need to be put into context to understand.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: ABC blocks. Credit: Library of Congress LC-DIG-pga-02147 (digital file from original print).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s the Big Deal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are probably wondering what the big deal is as far as genealogy is concerned.<\/p>\n

As we age, we start writing our family history books, and to save printing space and to respect our forebears, we use traditional terms. Most of us naively think we can teach our descendants to understand the old Latin and family history acronyms. But can we?<\/p>\n

Alternative Meanings<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you thought that \u201cABC\u201d had to do with the alphabet, you may be wrong. Depending upon where it was used, this acronym had nothing to do with education. This example from 1927 shows that it stood for \u201cAudit Bureau of Circulation\u201d when written in certain magazines. Without a place (such as old newspapers) to look these acronyms up, you might never know what they meant.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas), 9 September 1927, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Humorous Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The great wits of yesteryear are much like they are today.<\/p>\n

Often, they morphed serious abbreviations into something funny, such as the I. & G. N. railroad which was called by the nickname \u201cInconvenience and Great Nuisance\u201d railroad.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening News (San Jose, California), 27 February 1920, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lookup Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aside from humor, please take the time to pop your abbreviations into your browser, or to look them up in slang dictionaries. You may find that a newer interpretation is quite different from what you meant.<\/p>\n

\u201cCem\u201d Is Not a \u201cCemetery\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can you guess what \u201ccem\u201d means? I doubt it. To some youth of today, it indicates the most important person in the world. The etymology is not clear, but it is possibly derived from the Turkish word cem which indicates charisma.<\/p>\n

\u201cCensus\u201d Is Not Necessarily a \u201cCensus\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although not an abbreviation, \u201ccensus\u201d has an odd slang meaning. A slang dictionary I located online noted that it is used to indicate a \u201ctotal loser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDSP\u201d Is Not a \u201cPerson Who Died without Issue\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In texting, \u201cDSP\u201d tells you there is a \u201cday shift problem.\u201d For instance, if you worked on the night shift and there was a problem that needed addressing, it could be passed along to the incoming crew. My humorous mind says maybe we should turn this into Gen Speak by redefining it as \u201cDescendant Problem\u201d \u2013 which it certainly would be if your descendants didn\u2019t take the time to look up the Latin meaning!<\/p>\n

\u201cDY\u201d Is Not \u201cDied Young\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an adaption or shortening of the \u201cDWAI\u201d expression which stands for \u201cdon\u2019t worry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExor\u201d Is Not an \u201cExecutor\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although it may have been chosen by one who understands genealogy, \u201cExor\u201d is not a well-known character in a video game.<\/p>\n

\u201cGR\u201d Is Not a \u201cGrave Record\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next time you are watching golf, try texting this. It indicates a \u201cgood round\u201d!<\/p>\n

\u201cJAS\u201d Doesn\u2019t Mean You \u201cJoined Another Society\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quakers (Friends) used this acronym to indicate that a member \u201cjoined another society.\u201d Today\u2019s slang defines this as \u201cjust a second,\u201d indicating you\u2019ll get right back to someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHIST\u201d or \u201cHISTS\u201d Is Not a \u201cHistorical Fact\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would never have guessed this one, and I doubt that you would too. Since it rhymes with another term, it is an adaption of \u201cfists,\u201d and \u201chists\u201d indicates that you have curled up your feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cNS\u201d Does Not Indicate a \u201cNew Style\u201d of Calendar<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the older Julian calendar got out of sync with the seasons, it was changed during the mid-18th century to what is now known as the Gregorian calendar. The first day of the year was no longer in March, but in January. Unfortunately, \u201cns\u201d has several meanings to modern generations. One of the nicer ones is \u201cnice shot\u201d and I\u2019ll not repeat the unfortunate ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cVID\u201d Is Not a \u201cVideo\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some acronyms might even baffle future generations, such as \u201cvid\u201d which definitely doesn\u2019t mean a \u201cvideo\u201d to a millennial. To a genealogist, it has everything to do with a widow or widower. It\u2019s an old Latin term that stems from the Latin vidua or viduus. There\u2019s virtually 0% chance that your descendants will care about this. To them, they\u2019ll be impressed that Grandma or Grandpa were modern enough to make a video and may even turn to YouTube hoping to see it.<\/p>\n

Embarrassing Mistaken Identities<\/strong><\/p>\n

To wrap this article up, I cannot stress this last point enough.<\/p>\n

Please look up old-time genealogical abbreviations to see if any are horribly embarrassing to newer generations. And although this example is a case of mistaken identity, the same concept applies to genealogy.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Grand Forks Daily Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota), 4 June 1918, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In my research, I uncovered dozens of commonly used genealogical expressions that have awful meanings to certain youngsters. Even abbreviations for lineage societies can be misinterpreted.<\/p>\n

Strategies on How to Write for Modern Readers<\/strong><\/p>\n

So now that you see the problem, let\u2019s discuss the strategies to avoid confusion.<\/p>\n

You could eliminate all abbreviations and acronyms, with the risk that this practice will add to the length of your publication \u2013 or change selective ones that have off-color modern meanings.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, you could provide a glossary or list of abbreviations and acronyms within your family history book. Another option to a list at the beginning or end of your book is to define an abbreviation or acronym within your writing and use it from then on. The drawback to this method is that researchers rarely read a genealogy book from cover to cover \u2013 and when they are in a hurry, they might neglect to consult your list. Most genealogists use a table of contents to go directly to a page referencing an ancestor, so you might wish to notate your approach at that point.<\/p>\n

Instead of abbreviations and acronyms, use footnotes or assign a number to an abbreviation or acronym \u2013 \u00a0and if that doesn\u2019t suit you, instead of footnotes, use end notes that indicate that a reader needs to read a list explaining a reference.<\/p>\n

You might even want to make up your own abbreviations and acronyms that have only clean innuendos. Of course, you\u2019ll then have to cross your fingers that future societies don\u2019t come up with something new!<\/p>\n

And for the enterprising authors who follow my blog articles, some of you may even think about writing a reference that modernizes the old abbreviations and acronyms!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak writes about how abbreviations and acronyms change meaning over time \u2013 with implications for genealogists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[10545,16125,12,2719],"class_list":["post-30981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-abbreviations","tag-acronyms","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-search-tips"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/illustration-0503-2018-featured-graphic-surprised-woman.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}