I learnt a new acronym yesterday. The parents have gone SKIing. Not immediately obvious is it! Well it means Spending the Kids Inheritance. Not the nicest of acronyms either so one to be used with care. It reminds me of some other amusing acronyms that I have heard over the years. One of my favourites is another that must be used with caution - SINBAD - meaning Single Income No Boyfriend And Desperate. Which immediately makes you think of another notable acronym that combines salary and marital status - DINKY - meaning Dual Income No Kids Yet.
There are other classics. YUPPIE must be my favourite late 1980s acronym. This one means Young Urban Professional or Young Upwardly Mobile Professional. If you can make your acronym sold like it is an actual word (when in reality it isn't) so much the better. My favourite of these is NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard.
It is not a new phenomenon either, soldiers in the Second World War made use of acronyms such as NORWICH - (K)nickers Off Ready When I Come Home - with the idea of making it through the sensor!
I am not even going to go into the wave of new Internet inspired acronyms. So TTFN.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Friday, 12 August 2011
#hashtags and status updates
If you are into Twitter (which I admit I think is a lot of fun and often very informative) you will know that almost every TV show now has its own hashtag. Tweeters, twitterers, twits (or whatever we are supposed to call them) will then comment on the show as it is broadcast. I find it interesting to see how people react to the particular show. This is particularly true when watching news shows such as Question Time and Newsnight, which pleasingly seem to have a huge following in the Twittersphere. Following the #bbcqt or #newsnight hashtags gives you an instant reaction to what is being discussed, which I think adds a really new dimension to current affairs. It is also great fun when at a live event. For example, at places such the Frontline Club, during the debates/talks you can tweet comments which are shown on a screen next to the panel (which when I first tried it I thought was great fun).
However, there is a danger with this new way of commenting on live events and that is that you become so obsessed with the coming up with the witty quip or the perfect put down, that you actually stop concentrating on the main event. I certainly have this problem (because I am male and find multi-tasking beyond me). I think we may find that when people meet up in the pub to discuss last night's TV shows (yes surely people still do that!) they may well all have been concentrating at different moments and have entirely different recollections of the programme!
I rather like hashtags, whereas I am still not entirely convinced by status updates. Quite frankly I am bored by people who write things like "just made a nice cup of tea" or "my train is running late". I feel uneasy with commuters who tell us how smelly the person they are sitting next to is. I find it amusing (and thus feel less sympathy) when people write things like "I am so busy I don't know where to start" or "I have so many things to do today it's not true". Well you can’t be that busy if you have had time to write the status update in the first place! I may be being harsh here but I do think that the status update panders to the attention seeker. Give me a good hashtag any day!
However, there is a danger with this new way of commenting on live events and that is that you become so obsessed with the coming up with the witty quip or the perfect put down, that you actually stop concentrating on the main event. I certainly have this problem (because I am male and find multi-tasking beyond me). I think we may find that when people meet up in the pub to discuss last night's TV shows (yes surely people still do that!) they may well all have been concentrating at different moments and have entirely different recollections of the programme!
I rather like hashtags, whereas I am still not entirely convinced by status updates. Quite frankly I am bored by people who write things like "just made a nice cup of tea" or "my train is running late". I feel uneasy with commuters who tell us how smelly the person they are sitting next to is. I find it amusing (and thus feel less sympathy) when people write things like "I am so busy I don't know where to start" or "I have so many things to do today it's not true". Well you can’t be that busy if you have had time to write the status update in the first place! I may be being harsh here but I do think that the status update panders to the attention seeker. Give me a good hashtag any day!
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
No Silly Season this August
This has not been a typical August so far. Normally at this time of year, with politicians and captains of business sunning themselves in Chiantishire and the South of France, the media are pretty short of stories. The skeleton staff left behind therefore have to find something to fill the newspapers and usually resort to such frivolous stories such as ladies putting cats in rubbish bins, footballers dyeing their hair or politicians defecting to rival parties.
Not so this summer. There has been the ongoing turmoil arising out of the sovereign debt crises in Europe and the effect that has had on the Eurozone. America has had similar problems with the markets following the loss of its triple A rating as a result of the standoff between Republicans and Democrats over agreeing to lift the national debt ceiling. The UK was shocked and outraged by the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed News International, where for a time new stories seemed to be uncovered on an hourly basis. And just as the Murdoch saga was calming down the riots in London have given us more to be shocked and outraged about. All in all anything but silly season, more like very serious season.
It seems an age ago now that the world was looking at Britain enviously as it celebrated the Royal Wedding at the end of April. Given the proximity to the Easter holidays, many of us took advantage and enjoyed an extra long holiday. Perhaps the natural order of things has been disturbed this year and we have already had our silly season?
Not so this summer. There has been the ongoing turmoil arising out of the sovereign debt crises in Europe and the effect that has had on the Eurozone. America has had similar problems with the markets following the loss of its triple A rating as a result of the standoff between Republicans and Democrats over agreeing to lift the national debt ceiling. The UK was shocked and outraged by the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed News International, where for a time new stories seemed to be uncovered on an hourly basis. And just as the Murdoch saga was calming down the riots in London have given us more to be shocked and outraged about. All in all anything but silly season, more like very serious season.
It seems an age ago now that the world was looking at Britain enviously as it celebrated the Royal Wedding at the end of April. Given the proximity to the Easter holidays, many of us took advantage and enjoyed an extra long holiday. Perhaps the natural order of things has been disturbed this year and we have already had our silly season?
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