I have no idea when acronyms first started showing up in written languages, but in today's fast-paced, take-no-prisoners lifestyle, they are everywhere. It began for me during university at, where else, BU. I started freshman year doing a program called FYSOP (First-Year Student Outreach Program). Then I started class in CAS (College of Arts & Sciences) before transferring to COM (College of Communication - yeah, I know the letters don't work out...). Then I started working in sports, and I had to calculate things like GAA (goals against average) and 3FG (3-point field goals). And the acronyms flowed from the athletes themselves. I had one women's lacrosse player who seemed to only speak in them - BGT (big game today), LGT (let's go Tigers), etc. Some student-athletes used them so they could swear without getting in trouble - FH (f***ing h***).
One day my old roommate from college emailed me a link to a website called FML (F*** My Life) where people post short bursts of experiences that were the worst things to happen to them that day, week, month, year... Some of them were funny enough to make me laugh out loud in a "dude, that really sucks, but I'm glad it wasn't me" way. Others were kinda sad/pathetic. But eventually I had to stop reading because some of them were just mean. So I was glad to find a story on pr.com yesterday about a new website called GMH started to counter FML. Givemehope.org is the same concept, but it is only for positive stories. Inspirational or grateful messages left by people who had random acts of goodness/kindness show up in their lives. I may add this to my daily troll through the Internet.
Another nice story I read came from the LA Times. It was more of an opinion piece, one more voice adding to the din surrounding the President and Mrs. Obama's "date night" in New York. But this woman took the angle that the Obamas were just doing a classed up version of what every American does or should do with his/her sweetheart - a night out in a dress or suit jacket with good food and quality entertainment. You don't have to do the Met or a restaurant you need to mortgage your house just to pay the bill, but dusting off your heels and opening the door for your lady isn't something you should neglect these days. My hat's off to the First Couple for making time for each other even while he's running the West.
This past weekend was the anniversary of D-Day, or a large reason why the West is not speaking Russian/German. The Tennessean posted a story featuring a local WWII veteran and his connection to Normandy and its beaches. William Simpkins landed on Utah Beach June 6, 1944 and was one of the few members of his unit to survive the invasion. Simpkins has been back to Normandy six times since crashing the beaches and has a real connection to the French citizens and towns on the coast.
No comments:
Post a Comment