ACRONYMS

[Peter Stedman]

My copy of the superb FVM (Film & Video Maker) has just arrived and, like many odd, folk I flip through from the very back to start with. On page 32 a question is asked "Should I be making high-definition videos in PTE?"

Errrrr . . . . What the h*** is PTE? Acromyms are all very well if the multitudes understand what they stand for. Pete. The GOM (Grumpy Old Man).

[Dave Watterson]

Peter, you must have missed the fact that this appears in the AV (Audio Visual) pages of the magazine. One danger of back-to-font reading is that you see the headline title after reading the article.

In the AV world PTE (or sometimes P2E) stands for "Pictures To Exe", one of the most popular programs for assembling slide shows on personal computers. (See http://www.wnsoft.com/ for details. There is a free version available as well as versions to buy. Even the most expensive of these is $75 which is about £45.)

But in general I agree that we tend to use acronyms too carelessly. In my own writing I try to give the full title after the first use of any acronym and then to stick to the short version.

What are your favourite / most hated acronyms?

How do you read Film & Video Maker ? I usually read Chairman's column, Ken Wilson, Tom Hardwick, letters and then the rest.

-Dave