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Communicating with idiotic abbreviations
Path: BadHabits   · Prev: OnlyPlayingBlackNeverPlayingAgainstWeakerOpponents   · Next: ComplainingAboutTimeSettings
   

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 :-)

Gag I hate having to reply to peoples "Thanks for the game" and "Good luck have fun". At first I repeated the same to them. But every opponent says those exact SAME words before and after every game it becomes so redundant. I feel like not responding to them at all and just completly ignoring them but that would be "rude". So I just use the "gg" and "thx". I could be upset by people who actually think that I should not respond to them at all. But how can using the same acronyms be more insulting than using the same phrases. Am I supposed to feel gratitude by the extra keys they had to type. I could care less if they thank me for kicking their cyber-butts.

Scartol: I think this comment shows a severe lack of respect for the traditions of Go, and for the people you play. When you "kick their cyber-butts," you ARE doing something for them, and they are doing something for you -- you are each helping the other hone his/her Go skill. I'm shocked by the callous attitude that you don't owe your opponent either respect or gratitude.

Now, I recognize that there isn't too much difference between typing "thx" (or executing a macro) and typing "Thank you for the game". But there is a difference. I think those of us who are part of this game's noble tradition owe it to ourselves, each other, and those who passed it along to show it the proper respect.


Yesterday I played a game on KGS with a guy called "animeforce", in the Hikaru-fanclub room. This guy used all the possible emoticons you can imagine. I told him I didn't understand half of it. He asked if I did IRC. I said "What's IRC ?"

It was all very sympathetic but then you see that even this self proclaimed net addict has trouble keeping up the pace.

--Dieter


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