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I suppose that a long time ago when correcting typed pages required white out and
razor blades and the process of putting together documentation was laborious and
cumbersome, it made sense to use acronyms and abbreviations to simplify the writing
process. Typing out a long phrase over and over again created additional chances to
introduce errors in a document, and there were plenty even so under the best editing
and review regime. So making use of acronyms and abbreviations was a way to not only
shorten the task but reduce errors, too.
Today we do all this work on computers. Some of our software will even check
spelling with reasonable accuracy. Some day I'm sure there will be programmable
grammar and context checkers to make error-catching even easier. Still, we have
tools far superior to those that were around even 10 or 15 years ago. I think it's
time we made use of those tools.
My experience suggests that the single most important step that can be taken to
improve clarity in writing is the reduction in use of pronouns. In fact, I would go
so far as to assert that the elimination of pronoun use would make a tremendous
improvement in writing at all levels, even among professionals.
Right behind pronoun use (or misuse, to be more precise) the use of acronyms and
abbreviations serve to obscure meaning and reduce clarity of communication in favor
of making the job easier for writers. It is easier to type FYI than to type For Your
Information, so we do that even though we all get a curious interrogative reply
occasionally asking what the heck FYI means (or YMMV or AFAIK or whatever). And
official or work-related acronyms and abbreviations cause far more confusion than
these shorthands do.
Moreover, we can still use these shortcuts in our typing while doing a global search
and replace pass over the document to change them all from abbreviations or acronyms
to their full spelling, and we can do this with virtually no effort on our part.
Certainly it is no more effort than creating a glossary is.
Now that we have the tools, I believe we should drastically reduce, if not
eliminate, our use of acronyms and abbreviations. If our goal is communication, we
should not put arbitrary barriers to achieving that goal in the way or our readers.
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