Nothing Wrong Here

These days, we're becoming more and more acquainted with writers who conserve words and time by texting acronyms, such as LOL, Internet slang for Laugh (or Laughing) Out Loud.  I thought such abbreviated communication was a current-day invention.  However, I recently learned that the British author Beverley Nichols (1898-1983) reportedly was using his own texting-style slang as long as a century ago.  Specifically, he reportedly used the letters N.W.H., which stand for Nothing Wrong Here.  Supposedly, Mr. Nichols wrote those initials in the upper left-hand corner of envelopes when writing to friends.  Just seeing those initials must have told the reader that things were alright.  How often do we humans prefer to share bad news instead of good (perhaps that's why gossip is so tantalizing)? How much is "the news" that we hear, see and read really a litany of the myriad bad and sad things happening in our world?  What would happen if there was an "N.W.H." news show where only good news could be told? Would the show capture people's attention and survive the ratings wars?  In our everyday lives, what if we made it a practice to share only positive thoughts and news with others, refraining from the dreary and potentially hurtful?  How would all of that affect the collective psyche of our world?  I daresay I'd like to experience it.

College of Letters

Have you noticed how many times these days our sentences are swirling in acronyms?  What happened to speaking in real words instead of a series of letters?  I work in an industry that is fraught with complex terms that are often reduced to their essence in acronyms -- not too unusual in most industries today.  People in my workplace can be heard including numerous acronyms in one sentence with great ease and there is common understanding by all involved.  What makes it more complicated for me, however, is that as I move in and outside of my work setting, I discover that different groups use the same acronyms but the letters stand for different words and have distinctly different meanings.  I'll never forget my first meeting after making the leap from tourism public relations to health care.  Everyone was talking about WHA.  In my previous world, WHA stood for the call letters of the local public television station.  As the discussion proceeded, I became more and more confused, for there was nothing talked about that seemed to match up with the WHA I knew.  Fortunately, someone kindly explained to me that it stood for the Wisconsin Hospital Association.  I now proceed with more caution when using or attempting to understand acronyms.  I'm more willing to ask for clarification.  Call me old fashioned, but I really like real words.