Dear Jessica Brennan,
Last week, Dad and I were driving up Dundas St, and there was a sign that said “BOGO Sale.”
Dad asked, “What’s a BOGO, and why is everyone selling them all of a sudden? Are they those new things kids are spinning on their fingers?”
Oh my.
Your Dad is a genius (already established), yet somehow, the whole acronym thing really eludes him. Almost every day, I get a note that says, “What does ICYMI” mean?” Or, “Jeff says he’s ROTFL, is that bad?” (The answer depends on how much you enjoy Jeff laughing at you, I guess).
Dad came from a time when letters formed words, they were accompanied by punctuation, and when all were put together, they delivered a cohesive message meant to be easily understood.
If letters appeared alone in correspondence, they meant you had gone to school for a long time and earned degrees, which also meant you knew how to use letters rather than abbreviations or acronyms to explain a thought.
PwC to him does not sound like Pricewaterhousecoopers (which should have spaces but doesn’t, “No wonder they screwed up the Oscars!” he cries), and BMO sounds like an antacid.
From Dad, “Why can’t anyone just speak the Queen’s English anymore?”
If I remind him that he says JnC as opposed to Jeans ‘n Classics in reference to his own company, he says, “Yeah, but everyone knows what that is.”
Yes, true.
There are so many people who know what JnC is compared to those who know what PwC or BOGO means.
But that’s your Dad.
Love,
Mum, xo
