You know you are getting old when:

[GHT]

I wonder what the acronym for Friends University of Central Kansas would be

It's probably one of those urban myths that has gained credence down through the years, but the acronym for the above example is, in itself, an acronym.
In the mid 16th century onward, at the height of religious fervour, in English law, adultery was punishable by imprisonment. Those guilty of this heinous crime were known, by the court of law, to be: Found Under Carnal Knowledge. And if that is a complete fairy tale, it's still a good one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That all makes sense. I always try to think about punctuation, style rules, etc., with the guiding principal being they should help the reader (hardly an original thought). So, if you are using the acronym for something not that common, then using the parenthesis after the first usage makes sense to me as it embeds the acronym in the readers mind - especially if you aren't going to use the acronym for many paragraphs. However, if you use the acronym, say within the same paragraph, you probably don't need the parenthesis after the first usage as the reader will connect it back when he or she sees the acronym for the first time as the full name will still be fresh in his or her mind.

I dug out my old AP Stylebook from the '80s, and they were definitely against first ref/parenthesis -- but that's journalistic writing. I do find that first ref/parenthesis is useful when I'm reading a manual for some piece of equipment, but it bugs me to see it in academic writing -- which no matter who wrote it always looks like it was spit out of a Univac machine circa 1968.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's probably one of those urban myths that has gained credence down through the years, but the acronym for the above example is, in itself, an acronym.
In the mid 16th century onward, at the height of religious fervour, in English law, adultery was punishable by imprisonment. Those guilty of this heinous crime were known, by the court of law, to be: Found Under Carnal Knowledge. And if that is a complete fairy tale, it's still a good one.

A book came out a few years back on the history of That Word, and traced its origin back to the 12th Century, with roots in old Germanic words related to "rubbing."

From now on when I'm in a fit of rage at some piece of equipment that doesn't work, I'm going to call it a rubbing no good rubbing hunk of rub.

 

[2jakes]

How many of you cats remember turning 30
and being depressed because you thought
you were old?

 

[Lean'n'mean]

From now on when I'm in a fit of rage at some piece of equipment that doesn't work, I'm going to call it a rubbing no good rubbing hunk of rub.

WTR ???

 

[GHT]

Remember this is a PG rated forum!

Who gives a rub?

 

[F. J.]

[...] And if that is a complete fairy tale, it's still a good one.

It is.

 

[F. J.]

[...] It's never, ever acceptable to refer to the Secret Service by an acronym.

Aw, what’s wrong with U. S. S. S.?

U. S. S. S. could also refer to soldiers under the command of Colonel Hiram Berdan during the Civil War: United States Sharpshooters.

 

[Zombie_61]

It is.

Just for anyone who doesn't already know, Snopes.com is no more a reliable source of accurate information than Wikipedia. They get things right most of the time, but they're far from being an authoritative source.

There are a lot of interesting theories regarding the origin of the "F" word, but it's actual origins are unverified.

 

[tonyb]

How many of you cats remember turning 30
and being depressed because you thought
you were old?

I looked 30 when I was 20, so I got a chuckle out of my contemporaries' distress over hitting that particular milestone.

 

[LizzieMaine]

30 didn't bother me a bit. 40 put me in the hospital. 50 put someone I care about in the hospital. I don't even want to think about 60.

 

[ChiTownScion]

30 didn't bother me a bit. 40 put me in the hospital. 50 put someone I care about in the hospital. I don't even want to think about 60.

FWIW, I passed that hurdle nearly 2 years ago. Life has never been better: I feel better than ever (physically mentally, spiritually).

The down side: as you age you lose so many around you who were part of your life. It starts with those 2 generations before you, then your parents and their peers. When it gets to people you knew as kids in grade school, sometimes your eyes are too dry for the tears of the soul.

 

[tonyb]

I breezed through those decade markers, until I hit 60.

It isn't that it frightened me or threw me into a life crisis. But life is getting on, and it takes a certain willfulness to deny that approaching horizon. At 60, there is no denying.

Whatever ambitions I have for the remainder are both more and less self-focused. Recognition is for who? Do we need anonymous others to validate us?

Maybe we do, to some degree. And maybe that's not all bad. But today's big-shots will be mostly forgotten 50 years from now. And I have no reason to think that such a fall will matter one bit to those big-shots, who will by then be reduced to worm food.

 

[tonyb]

.., The down side: as you age you lose so many around you who were part of your life. It starts with those 2 generations before you, then your parents and their peers. When it gets to people you knew as kids in grade school, sometimes your eyes are too dry for the tears of the soul.

Yeah, that's the worst of it, as best I can tell. Many of my favorite people, some born after I was, are no longer with us.

 

[tonyb]

Here's an obvious one ...

You know you're getting old when your plans for Saturday night are seeing to it your pills for the following week are arranged in the pill sorter.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Here's an obvious one ...

You know you're getting old when your plans for Saturday night are seeing to it your pills for the following week are arranged in the pill sorter.

Hooray, pharma-industrial-complex!

Either stress, alcohol and resulting cancer will kill half of the people or this pharma-chemical intoxication.

German apothecarys are one of the most hated population groups, here. More than our doctors!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Once, however, one of these characters got theirs -- he had stepped over the rope to get into the section, and had to get up and go to the toilet during the show. he forgot the rope was there in the dark, and it laid him right out flat in the aisle. Justice triumphs.

As satisfying as it is, the major drawaback is if they have to go very badly there's a tendency to "explode" right on the spot if you get my meaning. And depending on what they're wearing, not so good for the cleaning staff.

 

[GHT]

I looked 30 when I was 20, so I got a chuckle out of my contemporaries' distress over hitting that particular milestone.

30 didn't bother me a bit.

It was around the 30 mark that I started turning the radio volume down and probably the 60 mark when I needed it full blast, just to hear it.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Hm, now, it's over six years ago, that I was age 25 and started to listen german public alternative/culture-radio, which I still do (Chanson/Jazz/Classic). But actual, I'm in better (adult)condition, than on age 25. And on age 25, I was in better conditon, than on age 22 (looking like getting older and grey). But 17/18 was better than 22.

Situations and variations. Ups and down...

Life just consists of episodes...

Body and mind have to be in accordance.

 

[tonyb]

Hooray, pharma-industrial-complex!

Either stress, alcohol and resulting cancer will kill half of the people or this pharma-chemical intoxication.

German apothecarys are one of the most hated population groups, here. More than our doctors!

There's big, big money in pharmaceuticals, for sure.

But there's little denying that my meds at the very least make this life more comfortable. At least. It's not such a stretch to say those drugs are in large part responsible for my being here. (Some might see that as another reason to hate big pharma. But I'm fine with that. I take comfort in the words of Franklin Roosevelt, who took the scorn of certain people as a badge of honor.)