R.N.A..

The Star Tribune had an article today describing how the Hennepin County Board will fine people 50 cents for using an acronym while giving a presentation. That's R.D.A.: Ridonkculous News Article. The fine is an attempt to keep all of the presentations understandable to the public since bureaucrats tend to use "government-speak" when talking about specific programs whose acronyms may be unknown by the audience. Although I have to admit that this is an interesting way to deal with a language, I think that they should S.T.A.: Scrap The Acronyms.

Acronyms are appropriate in certain cases, such as NAFTA or HIV/AIDS, when the problem is well-known. However, I think it is highly annoying when an author makes up their own acronyms in their papers simply because they don't want to write out whatever it is that they are attempting to shorten. So there.