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Communicating with idiotic abbreviations
   

There's nothing I enjoy more than playing a game with someone online and when it's over, having them thank me by way of typing "gg" or -- even better -- "thx". This allows me to take out my old Little Orphan Annie decoder ring and translate their idiotic shorthand into real human language.

Of course, it's completely understandable why these people don't spell out their words the way the rest of us language-based people do. It takes an incredibly long time to type each of the letters required for "Thank you for the game", whereas "gg" is a matter of simply tapping the G key twice. And with all that extra time, these individuals are assuredly seeking cures for major world diseases, composing beautiful works of art, and making their community a better place.

Now, for those who don't understand irony:

HEY! Lazy morons! Write out your words! Typing "thx" is supremely insincere -- you might as well not bother "thanking" the person at all. Show some respect!

Grumpy Old Mr. S

NP!

LOL!!

Brevity is the soul of wit.
--William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
--William L. Safire, Great Rules of Writing

It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word.
-- Andrew Jackson


unkx80: I think I would prefer to know as many abbreviations as I can... GL! =)


Nando: Well, I can't agree with you about abbreviations. For one, there are usual in many online communities like IRC for instance and I've never found them to be considered unpolite. Second, when I type "thx", I'm always sincere. Else, just as you mentioned, I'm even a lot more lazy, I just don't type it at all. And after all, the developers can easily add some auto-completion/alias thingies in the software clients (just like in mIRC) and there you go : you will see the complete sentences, sure, but the guys still only typed 2-3 chars. So what now ?

I often feel some "frustation", though. IMHO (do you know this one ? ;p ), "thx" is the strict minimum, but it's simply not enough. The problem is more the complete lack of any sort of comment about the game when it's finished. I always feel kind of sad in such cases. It's not like I would want to have a deep post-mortem analysis for each of my games, but a simple "fun fight" or whatever comment about an important sequence in the game would be quite nice. Of course, the problem is often that you can't communicate with your partner/opponent, cause he simply doesn't speak any of the languages you know...

Keep cool and be a bit lenient :)


Scartol: The comments about decoding the messages were hyperbole -- I was exaggerating for comic effect. Of course I know what tftg and imho and cul8r and all the other cute tricks and trinkets and whatnot.

And you're right -- macros are just as bad. If you're really grateful for the game, take a few seconds and express it with actual words. If not, don't say anything at all (or maybe tell the person why you're not grateful). Typing in abbreviations is like only sending your mother an online card for her birthday.

If speaking in abbreviations isn't considered rude on IRC or bulletin boards, maybe it's because the people in them are just so used to them and so they have become a custom in their own right. However, that's not the case in online Go, and IMHO it's rude to assume that your opponent will understand and/or appreciate them.

Grumble.

MrKoala: I agree it can be considered as rude to use abbreviations, but it is not always a matter of "I don't really mean to thank you but I have to in order to be polite". It can also be a matter of time. I mean I can afford to type "Thank you for the game", but some people don't type as fast as I do, and it sometimes takes a lot of time to even click in the edit box an then let the mouse go, look for the 't',... There are times some people spent something like 1 minute to type a nice thanking note. So abbreviations can be useful, sometimes. Err... by the way, what does "IHMO" mean ? :-)

Bill: IMHO = In My Humble Opinion.
Stronger than IMO. ;-)

MrKoala: Oops, maybe I should wear glasses. Thank you, Bill :-)


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This is a copy of the living page "Communicating with idiotic abbreviations" at Sensei's Library.
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