Abbreviations

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 John Cornellier wondered how to determine when to use
 abbreviations, and when to spell out the word or phrase.
 John, there's no simple rule of thumb: you have to know the
 words understood by your audience. Once you're familiar
 with the terms they use, you can make an enlightened
 decision on whether an acronym is OK.

 For example, in the computer industry, it would make little
 sense to spell out "MS-DOS", since we all know what this
 refers to; in fact, it's probably more familiar than
 "Microsoft Disk Operating System". Same goes for DNA, U.S.,
 and a variety of other short forms. (That's the test of a
 good acronym or abbreviation, by the way: it's at least as
 recognizable as its spelled-out version, and hopefully
 more.) On the other hand, if you're describing DOS to a
 general audience, you'd be well advised to at least explain
 what the acronym means, even if you don't actually spell it
 out. But where to spell it out?

 Do real people use glossaries? I do... regularly.
 Footnotes? Hate 'em, but at least they're better than
 endnotes. But maybe I'm not a typical user; after all, I'm
 a word nerd. Best way to get people to use a glossary is to
 make sure they know that it's there. I always mention this
 in the "read me first" sections; in one case, I actually
 put the glossary before the main text to make sure that
 even people who ignore introductions would likely come
 across it while skimming.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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