@JonCarter Exactly! Similarly to when someone casually drops "TJIs" into a thread. I go back to the top of the thread and re-read the entire thread without noticing anything that could be abbreviated to TJIs. I guess the author just can't spare the extra 15 seconds to type out the words, whatever they are. I'll buy the acronyms when they've been elaborated on the first time they appear in a given thread but find them a set-back when they're casually dropped in mid thread. Perhaps I'm naive, over-reacting or too obsessive compulsive but I find myself often typing SL (
Stage Left) the first time in any given post before abbreviating to SL every time after that. Even common acronyms like
WAP have at least three interpretations when you go Googling for them and that's when you've narrowed your frame of reference to computer terms and eliminated racial slurs. Perhaps, some year, I may learn what TJIs equates to. Perhaps it won't be too long as I've already cottoned on to LVL. [Which, incidentally, has nothing to do with comparative signal levels]
Bottom
Line: If a person is genuinely concerned with imparting knowledge to the masses, perhaps they could fully spell out their acronyms upon the occasion of first use in a given thread. I find my self typing AFF (Above Finished Floor) whenever I first
drop it in to a thread on a theatrical forum. Perhaps not if I was typing to architects but it's not an abbreviation I usually come across in theaters. While they're under construction, sure, but not after they've been in operation for a number of years and all of the contractors are long gone.
Edit: I just did a little Googling and it was entertaining.
First up for "TJIs" was a menu for a Chinese diner.
Next came info' for a manufactured
Truss Joist product but getting the I defined took a little more digging, passing through
Truss Joist Incorporated and eventually hinting that the I indicated an I beam as opposed to any other cross sections such as C channels.
On the plus side: At least I think I'll recognize the acronym the next time it shows up unless it has different meaning in a different thread the next time.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.