Dakota Beacon

When playing with words, the rich English language lends itself to great versatility. Appropriate use of the language can be fun and rewarding ranging all the way to the serious – and ridiculous. Its flexibility inevitably enhances its value.

Take acronyms for example. “Acronym” defined: A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each successive part or major parts of a compound term. (See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym). The word “acronym” typically applies when the resulting entity can be read as a word. Thus, radar comes from "RAdio Detection And Ranging." scuba comes from "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus."

Whether by intent or by accident, acronyms lend levity to our language.

(https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/funny-acronyms).

            For school:

              BOOK – Brainy Object of Knowledge

              MATH – Mental Abuse to Humans

              SCHOOL – Sucks Children’s Happiness Out of Life

            About People:

              DIET – Do I Eat Today

              MAID – Mothers Actually in Disguise

              WIFE – Wise Investment Flourishing Eternally

            About Places:

              PRAIRIE – Pretty Rural Area; It’s Radiant, It’s Empty

              HOME – House of My Errands

              MALL – Money Accepted, Long Lines

            Acronyms for “Acronym”

              A Coded Rendition of Names Yielding Meaning

              Another Cryptic Rendition of Nomenclature You Memorize

              A Clever Re-Organization Nudges Your Memory

On a slightly more sober note, Al-anon uses a few condensations of its own. Acronyms serve as mnemonics (memory aids) helping a person remember concepts. (https://www.reddit.com/r/AlAnon/comments/ajpfuc/alanon_sayings_top_10_quotes_acronyms_slogans/)

HALT -- Hungry Angry Lonely Tired. When these four physical or emotional conditions arise in a person, that person is in a vulnerable position for a severe emotional reaction.

HOPE -- Happy Our Program Exists. Obtaining a new lease on life.

DETACH -- Don’t Even Think About Changing Him/Her. Back away from the other person’s shortcoming. Let them own their actions with all the consequences.

Occasionally, a person encounters an unknown acronym with which they are not familiar but may be relevant at the moment. This website aids in defining unfamiliar acronyms. (https://acronymfinder.com)

Word play includes constructing your own acronyms. Try your creative hand for the fun of it. There are even AI programs to help generate your own acronyms.

Not all acronyms are innocent fun and games. Some are deadly serious if not ridiculous and what follows provides an eyeopener, to wit: the gargantuan magnitude of a runaway federal government. No one can visualize a $33 trillion national debt, an incomprehensible order of magnitude. This is no more graspable than saying “big.”

A more lucid measure for a bloated bureaucracy ruling over us would be the proliferation of acronyms by which government officials communicate. This resembles a language unto itself. To understand the colossal size of the Ruling Class’s “infrastructure” everyone should access the website “GovSpeak: A Guide to U.S. Government Acronyms & Abbreviations” (https://ucsd.libguides.com/govspeak) produced by the University of California – San Diego. This site bills itself as “The most current, extensive, and fully-linked listing of U.S. government agency, office, program, and publication acronyms.” Click on any acronym and you will be taken to the homepage of the corresponding agency.

Interestingly, as of June 2011, GovSpeak no longer includes military acronyms. Too bad. The Department of Defense could easily account for a large share of all federal acronyms. Instead, GovSpeak refers patrons to the 360-page pdf “DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms” (https://irp.fas.org/doddir/dod/dictionary.pdf).

Enjoy your English language while you can. Use acronyms sparingly.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).