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Bookmark or Share- Are the acronyms FYI, BTW, LOL, WTF now considered "normal" words?Regarding the reference to SNAFU, FUBAR and OK, the argument to be made is whether the original meaning, not the origins, is lost. "OK" is deceiving in that, while almost no one could state what the earliest-recorded expansion of the acronym is, we still use it in the same general meaning.
- Word for abbreviations that have become standard wordsThe word snafu, for example, was originally an obscene U.S. Army reference (situation normal -- all f'ed up"), and fad is purportedly originally an acronym for "for a day". Some terms, such as AWOL, seem to be stuck in between-- they are almost used as words, but equally almost always capitalized.
- What is the term for words that have changed meaning over time?For example, in relation to this question on Workplace Stack Exchange the term snafu was of military origin and was used to define a person, team, organisation, etc that continually makes mistakes. The first time I saw the term was in relation to a data protection leak and this now seems a pretty common usage e.g this article amongst the tech ...
- Is "Goldbrick" commonly used in American English?The term 'goldbrick' is still in use. Usage goes back about 150 years, primarily in the U.S. Originally it referred to an actual 'brick', made to appear precious, but mostly useless. It can be used as a noun, verb, adjective. Over the years, the meaning has expanded. In regards to a person, it refers to a worker who makes the appearance of ...
- Confusion caused by delays in human communication: layman's term word ...Snafu ("a situation in which nothing happens as planned and everything goes wrong–Cambridge) does not, of necessity, inherently denote "natural delays in the timing and ordering of human communication"
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