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CanisLupusArctos · 01-16-2008, 01:47 PM

Maxum, You bring up another interesting point with acronyms. While there is lots of truth to the fact that scientists seem to love acronyms in order to sound smart (I had professors who were like that... drove everyone NUTS) there are at least couple of fields where abbreviations and acronyms have a history of necessity - emergency medicine and meteorology.

Not surprising, both fields got their modern-day starts in the military, where they got a hefty dose of AM's (Acronyms, Military.)

On the practical side, emergency medicine requires fast communication especially in a busy setting where there are other patients, so every abbreviation and acronym is a time-saver as long as every doctor and nurse knows what they all mean.

Meteorology's practical acronyms come from aviation. When you're in the cockpit flying through a busy TCA (terminal control area), you need to be able to read & write quickly whenever you recieve communication from the ground.

Therefore a lot of weather shorthand is designed for cockpit use... terms like "SVR TSTMS" mean "Severe Thunderstorms" and stuff like that.

01-16-2008, 01:47 PM	#9
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	Acronyms Maxum, You bring up another interesting point with acronyms. While there is lots of truth to the fact that scientists seem to love acronyms in order to sound smart (I had professors who were like that... drove everyone NUTS) there are at least couple of fields where abbreviations and acronyms have a history of necessity - emergency medicine and meteorology. Not surprising, both fields got their modern-day starts in the military, where they got a hefty dose of AM's (Acronyms, Military.) On the practical side, emergency medicine requires fast communication especially in a busy setting where there are other patients, so every abbreviation and acronym is a time-saver as long as every doctor and nurse knows what they all mean. Meteorology's practical acronyms come from aviation. When you're in the cockpit flying through a busy TCA (terminal control area), you need to be able to read & write quickly whenever you recieve communication from the ground. Therefore a lot of weather shorthand is designed for cockpit use... terms like "SVR TSTMS" mean "Severe Thunderstorms" and stuff like that.