Acronyms and Abbreviations

 

Have you noticed that we live in a world of acronyms and abbreviations? They’re everywhere in our everyday language.

As a military man, I was brought up in such a world.  The military was notorious about such things. I was introduced to it at military college, RMC (Royal Military College).  We had CWCs (Cadet Wing Commanders) and LCDRs (Lieutenant-Commanders), LCOLs (Lieutenant-Colonels) and BGENs (Brigadiers-General). Its motto was abbreviated to TDV (Truth, Duty, Valour).  

But it was out in the real world of, in my case, the RCN (Royal Canadian Navy). There was an entirely new set of acronyms and abbreviations. The first ship I encountered was HMCS (Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship) Beacon Hill, an FFE (Escort Frigate), converted for cadet training. When I was posted to an exchange appointment to the USN (United States Navy) I was inundated by a whole new set of such things. When I asked what some of them meant, I was directed to the DicNavAb (The dictionary or naval abbreviations.) While there, I worked at the DesDevGru (Destroyer Development Group).  In my second year there, we merged with another group where I worked under the first Black Admiral in the USN, who possibly had the longest title as ComCruDesGruTwo/DesDevGru (Commander Cruiser Destroyer Group Two/Destroyer Development Group) (honest, I still have their plaque!).

Whereas in the past, the military had a near monopoly on this language, it is now so prevalent that we just take it for granted. The military primarily used them to ensure brevity in communication; they are now made up and used indiscriminately. How many times a day do you see such things as OMG, GST, TSX, NHL.  Last night, we saw POTUS (President of the United States) give the State of the Union Address to, among others, SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States).

Open any newspaper and see acronyms, primarily, on almost every page (usually except the comics). They are very prevalent in the business sections where every writer adds a few to his story, frequently without definition. It seems like insiders talk to bamboozle the average reader.

Then internet spawned a new breeding ground for acronyms and abbreviations. Text messages and some chat sites beg for brevity. I’ve seen messages that consist solely of such things, not a single whole word.  

You don’t talk about merchandise anymore, its ‘merch’. Usual has become ‘use’. Friends have become BFFs (best friends forever) or FWBs (friends with benefits).  I don’t know if other languages use such things as much as English, but they have become a fixture in this language. For once, wouldn’t you like to see a narrative written entirely with dictionary approved English whole words.

On that note I’ll say TTFN.

The African-American Struggles

 

February is Back History Month.

I am currently reading a book called “King: a Life” about Martin Luther King Jr. He was, of course, a great leader of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 60s. It brought back some of the other books I have read about the African-American struggles, primarily in the 20^th century. It is a long and dark episode. King, for his part trying to end discrimination through peaceful protest, had his house bombed twice, was shot at, stabbed and eventually assassinated. His entire career lasted just 13 years; he died at the age of 38.

There are many examples of brutality against African-Americans during the 20^th century as shown in the following examples.

There was the destruction of the Black suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1922, just because it seemed successful by the standards of the day. Its attack was started by a single gunshot in downtown Tulsa by nobody knows who, but of course, blamed on a black man.

In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was very powerful in Indiana and some surrounding states.  It’s target was again people of colour plus immigrants and Jews. It practically ruled Indiana when many of its state legislators and the Governor were members.

Just under 3,500 Black people were lynched in the US from the end of the Civil War to the 1960s.  The last lynching was recorded in 1968.

When I was military exchange with the US Navy, I spent the period 1974-75 in Charleston, South Carolina.  One Saturday night, there was a Klan demonstration near the edge of the city complete with a burning cross.  The next day, the local paper reported on the event by essentially making fun of it. But still, there were events to show that some things had not changed. A USN Chief Petty Officer was retiring and selling his house.  It was bought by a Black doctor.  When other protests did not deter the sale, the house was burned down.

 During the year there, my commanding officer was the first black admiral in the US Navy, Rear-admiral Samuel L. Gravely. He was a fine officer with a good sense of humour and a good leader. But even he had his problems. He did not take his family to Charleston, so he lived in the Bachelor Officers Quarters.  Each Sunday evening, he went out in civilian dress to a local church and usually brought back friends for coffee. For the first few weeks, he would be stopped at the main gate by the Marine guards and given a hard time. This was followed by a phone call by Sam to the command duty officer to get down to the main gate and “. . . tell this G.D. Marine who I am.”  After a couple of months, a large picture of Sam in uniform was posted at each position at the main gate. The Sunday night phone calls ended. He eventually was promoted to Vice-Admiral and retired after being a fleet commander. He proved he wasn’t a token choice. But that was the 1970’s when things like the Civil Rights Act had been enacted.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought more oppression as southern whites violently reacted.  This soon spread to the northern states as more blacks moved north for work and to escape the oppression in the south.

Between 1964 and 1991 four civil rights acts were made law in the US. The first in 1964, aimed to end discrimination in schools, employment and public accommodation. The others basically reinforced the first. The result of all this was the virtual desegregation of the country.

The current President of the US, Donald Trump and his administration seem to be trying to reverse this. He has fired black employees including a number of coloured senior military officers.  He has set out to treat Hispanics much the same, including his efforts to deport a million people a year. His promotion of a depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes is a fine example of his bias.

In Canada, we should not be smug about our attitudes. We have had our share of discriminatory actions.  Our treatment of Indigenous people shows that we have our own biases.