Abbreviations in conversations !

afaik - as far as I know
afaict - as far as I can tell
iirc - if I recall correctly (weasel phrase)
imo - in my opinion
imho - in my humble opinion (usually means their opinion is anything but
humble!)

Rodger,

I've been an internet user for many years now,
and I have rarely seen half of these used in
emails. Both afaik and imho I recognise, but the
others I wouldn't without having to really think
about it. I guess that just makes me lazy?

As it happens, the two-letter abbreviations for American states and Canadian
provinces are also best avoided, as they can be confused with the two letter
country codes used as top level domains on the internet. Does CA mean
California or Canada?

Or that those two letter abbreviations may mean
absolutely nothing to a large proportion of
non-americans. I do not use NSW or ACT without
first linking them in some way to New South Wales
(a state of Australia) and Australian Capital
Territory (a territory of Australia) as I assume
that anyone overseas wouldn't understand.... I
wish that those routinely using the US state
codes would do the same courtesy to the rest of
the world. <sigh> I tend to be lazy and just not
look them up, because I guess that if I am
expected to already know the US codes by heart,
then the message is I assume only intended for US
members. I know that this is the Pacific Bulb
Society list, but I also know that this is
intended for a far larger audience than just those living in that area!!

If you are going to use email, learn to use it right. That includes details
like having a signature block preceded by a line with two hyphens and a space
following them (recognized by the better email software so .sigs can be auto-
deleted when quoting). Make sure your .sig block
says where you are, both city
(spelled out!), state or province, (spelled out!), and country (spelled out!)

You're assuming also here that everyone using
these lists is tech-savvy enough to actually set
up a signature block. If you were to require
everyone to have the level of knowledge you're
saying should be enforced here, you'd certainly
cut down the membership of the forum..... which I
think should be inclusive of all ages, rather
than those who are computer technically
minded. I'm and ex-tech, previously computer
qualified, and I still struggle to understand
some of the things you're suggesting everyone who
isn't lazy should know, which means that the
average person on this list most likely has zero chance of doing so.

If in doubt, spell it out!

Many of us are in doubt re your acronyms....... so that means? <big grin>

This forum is open and welcome to anyone who is
interested in the plants we're talking about. I
rarely post to forums much at present as my wife
has been ill and is undergoing chemotherapy, so
there have been other priorities. I still read
pretty much everything though. There are a
miriad of people who read this list who never
post, and they should be encouraged to do so,
regardless of their technical knowledge I think,
because without new input this would become a
rather boring set of pontifications I would imagine. <grin>

Now I hope everyone understands <grin>, <big
grin> and <sigh>? Maybe I should include a
<wink> at various places in here as well.
LOL Keep smiling all, and thank you for all your
wonderfully entertaining emails.

Take care all, and have a great 2012, somewhat belatedly wished in my case.

Cheers.

Paul T.
Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C.
Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.

Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all
over the world including Aroids, Crocus,
Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus,
Irises, Liliums, Trilliums (to name but a few)
and just about anything else that doesn't move!!