Lost Acronym

And if you want to remember the resistor color code:

Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West

(there are less polite versions)

I learned the "Bad Boys..." from my father about 30 years ago, but the end I remember also included the tolerance "... But Violet Gives Willingly, Get Some Now!" Does that mean my father's intention was for me to be one of the bad boys?

"Many Volcanoes Erupt Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure"

I most likely have told this previously to this august panel but here goes again; in the early days of Omni magazine (early 1980s), they held a limerick contest relating to scientific matters; the winner was:

IF, through a circle a line,

hit the center and ran spine to spine.

If the diameter were D,

The circumference would be,

D times 3.14159.

Jaxy - I always remember the difference by looking at the units. Assume "r" is in cm:

2 * pi * r gives an answer in cm, obviously a distance.

pi * (r^2) gives an answer in square cm, obviously an area.

Haha, true. But when I was young, "Apples Pie Raisins Too" was just more fun than actually remembering based upon stable units. Nowadays I do a lot of my remembering of formulas based upon either repetition of usage or by studying the units.

We call it 'finger trouble' in electronics.
Maybe it was an I.D.10.T (idiot) problem?
Or a RTFM problem (first word Read, last word Manual)
Del

Not sure why, but this popped into me 'ed (stop me if you've heard it before):

ACHTUNG ALLES LOOKENPEEPERS
Das Computermaschine ist nicht fur Finger-poken und mittengrabben.
Ist easy schnappen der springwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fur gewerken bei das dummkopfen. Das rubber-necken sightseeren must keepen hands in das pockets relaxen und watch das lights ger-blinken.

This also has little to do with acronyms, so OT it goes...

_{^{(BTW - the above really upsets the spell-checker!)}}

A quotation like this can not be OT (even with my limited german vocabulary)

First met this many years ago in a subterranean radiation lab at AERE Harwell - it was during the era of PDP11's and Commodore Pets.

Still seems to pop up in scattered computer rooms & labs. It yields readily to a Google search on "finger-poken". Don't think it's got very much to do with German vocab. .

_{^{[Dammit - marked it OT with 5 - and I could've scraped up another coveted GA !]}}

We had one like that glued on the IBM 1401 in the Ky Dept of Economic Security in Frankfort. (yeah, 10 minutes older than water) Went something like this, if Altzheimer hasn't screwed it up:

ACHTUNG ALLES LOOKENPEEPERS
Das Computenmaschine ist nicht fur gewerken bei der dummkopfen. Ist nicht fur gefinger-poken und mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springen, poppen der corken und blowenfusen mit spitzensparken. So alles das rubber-necken sightseeren touristen ist keepen das hands in das pockets relaxen und watchen das blinkenlights.

I also have some "VW" german labels on my dashboard controls, "der drizzelflippen", "Das Smokgedunka", "der winkenblinken" on the wipers, ashtray, and turn signals.

Oh sure, I tell the customers that all the time! out loud no less.

Read The Factory Manual - RTFM.

Heh. Around here, the "F" stands for a different word.

We had a saying (this may get edited)I will say I have nothing against the German people,but this was funny.

We purchased much excellent kit from Germany but every now and then....we had problems....and it was mainly the torque applied to securing capscrews....

Tightened by a hairy arsed German on a friday on a promise!

I can't seem to find any Acronyms in your posts... I'm either simply confused, or my eyes are playing mean tricks on my poor little mind.

TLA - three letter abbreviation

Have also seen TLA as Three Letter Acronym, like "Make sure you pick up a copy of the TLA list after the lecture concludes."

Here is one not as coarse as previous.......

Final Inspection by 3 x neanderthals and a block of wood!

the one that usually hits around her and often is my favorite.

SNAFU

Situation Normal All F___ Up

"her"

For the purer minded (my boss not me):

SNAMU

(Messed Up)

(fubar was always fscked up beyond repair in my circles)

SOL - Shiat Outta Luck

What about the "A"?

To be honest, thats what it was in my circles as well.

all

excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me.

Great list! A few more/different:

GMC-Garage Man Companion

FORD-F**d Over Rebuilt Dodge

FORD-First on race day

DODGE-Dime o' Dozen gas eater (I liked yours better)

How's about:

ACRONYM - Alphabetic Co-location for Reducing Or Numbing Your Memory,

DROF - FORD spelled backwards: Driver Returns On Foot.

Not an acronym but a fave of mine.
'Mended beyond repair'

Well I s'pose MBR would do the trick
Please un-read first line...
execution error... operator overload...does not compute....<pop>
Del

Here is some more:

RTFQ = Read The F -inf Question

FUBAR = F-ed beyond repair

IIABDFI - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

FORD - fix or repair daily

That's the FORD one I couldn't remember!

There did seem to be a lot mnemonics at the start of the post the acronyms started coming through later

My fave from an IT colleague was

PICNIC Problem in Chair Not in Computer

Heading completely off topic would the following story completely baffle even bright young things

As the waters of the flood subsided Noah said unto all the animals go forth and multiply and all the animals headed out two by two to do the Lords bidding. Except right at the end two snakes slithered up to Noah and said

Hang on old chap how do we go forth and multiply?

Noah said Whats hte problem

The first snake replied We are adders

Noah said Well the Lord has decreed it so it must be possible

Some time later Noah is out on a stroll and sees the adders and lots of little adderlets

How did you do it he asks

We did it by logs said the adder

Anyway enough of this

Hey I like the picnic one...I shall 'borrow' it..
Del

Hi RVZ717,

surely you are looking for a knob twiddler, I am sure that you could come up with a variant that could become a TLA?

Sleepy (Looking forward to Del's video!)

RVZ717

when I came across a thread in which someone had an Acronym for (can't remember exactly)

A typical case of CRAFT disease. I am lucky I can remember this one.

'Can't Remember A F...ing Thing.'

FIAT is actually 'Failure In All Technology'.

I had a friend who worked for the aviation industry. They had "longs" for any acronym including LUFTHANSA and QANTAS. Due to a sudden onset of CRAFT disease I can't even remember what "longs" are called, are they?

For me, in general, it is easier to type it all out than to remember them. Only a few have ever stuck. They can and have and will be over used by some.

This should be fun, Ky.

As some one who fixes things for living and also grew up in a cheap ass family and saw this applied much to often. Some of you may know this one far to well!

ZM = ZOC

Zero Maintenance = Zero Operating Cost

That is if you never fix anything it doesn't cost you anything to own.

If you beat a dead horse long enough someone will pick you up and take you where you wanted the horse to go. So by logical reasoning beating a dead horse still gets you to where you need to be any way.

Yea its lame, but hey, how many people here have family or management personnel with similar mind sets that they have to deal with day in and day out?

USMC - Uncle Sam's Misguided Children - or -

USMC - Unlimited S#!+ and Mass Confusion

FORD - Future Operation Requires Dementia

FORD LTD - Found On Road Dead, Left There Dead

LTD - Look Twice Dummy

GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out

HAM - Had Alotta Money (spent it on radios, microphones, antennas, RF amplifiers, etc.)

When we entered the mess hall at Basic Training, we had to state to a drill sergeant which component of the Army we were from. Regular Army was RA, National Guard was NG, and Enlisted Reserve was ER. RA "became" Regular Arseholes. NG became No Gos, Nixon's Guerrillas, or Now Generation. ER's were Entirely Rotten.

Once, while I was an emergency management volunteer, I was handed a "memo" on Special High Intensity Training.

I wish to disassociate myself from the remarks of the last speaker.

Hrumph.

ER

The nation's rail network once had "TOPS" - Total Operations Planning System.

When it broke down, some wag invented "BOTTOMS" - Back Over To The Old Manual System"!

WALOOB - "what a load of old b@11@cks".

I remember in my first week of my first job outside of the military, I couldn't believe I actually had to explain what I had meant by the last line of my engineering memo:

"Get this done ASAP!"

By the time they asked who Asap was, at the weekly production 'meeting,' it was too late.

DILLIGAF- Does It Look Like I give A F<ck

JAFO Just a f*#kin observer.

No acronym but one of my favorites is "Clipboard Carrying, Non Combatant, C.S.

"Clipboard Carrying, Non Combatant, C.S.

Sorry, but I'm missing something here .

It might be a variation of a term used in Vietnam, REMF. The RE stands for Rear Echelon, you can probably guess the rest. It refers to admin and headquarters types that had no idea what the front line troops went through, but they'd act like they knew everything, and they'd make life for hard for the grunts.

I was never in Nam, but I read about in SOF (Soldier of Fortune) magazine.

A few of my colleagues spent quite a bit of time in "Nam". I have the utmost respect for all of the brave folks who were there, and never tire of the stories.

Lots of gems here.. Don't forget the acronyms of academia: BS, MS, PhD

Bull Sh#%, More of the Same, Piled Higher and Deeper.

But isn't there an acronym about acronyms? I'm sure I heard it, .....??? (CRAFT here PICNIC as usual )

"But isn't there an acronym about acronyms?"

Yes - a couple are listed in the link.

TMA = Too Many Acronyms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, of course, PlbMak is an acronym, in the same sort of class as Picnic.

PWSLACK - Problem With Sewer Lines As Candid Kaffeeklatsch.

Good guess. Wrong, though a good guess.

The (very) old IBM 1620 was know as the CADET. Can't Add, Doesn't Even Try. Because it didn't have curcuits for addition. It did it by table look up.

When I was living on a sub, we had a name for the wheel spinners.... FLOBS .... Free-Loading Oxygen BreatherS

other good acronyms...

TLA .... Three Letter Acronym

FFLA ....F'in Four Letter Acronym

ATD .. Attention To Detail (usually in reference to a lack thereof.

BDA ... Big richard Attitude, ya know... confidence

On a mostly unrelated subject, I am posting as a guest and have not been able to contribute under my user name BENBENBEN for months. I am told that my network or couter has 'done this opperation too many times today' ..and to try again tomorrow, but never to any avail;

Can someone help me figure this out? No response from and CR4 help requests thus far

Oh yeah! acronyms. Almost forgot. My feline ladyfriends taught me another one. Claim they learned it from a human.

BOHICA. Bend over, here it comes again.

<splarf>... Damn Oatiflakes over the monitor again..
BOHICA thats a keeper!
Del

What's a cat doing eating Oatiflakes ??!! You're a disgrace to the Feline world.

My first cat didn't like catnip and would eschew any such flavoured toys for several years until (presumably) the potency had dissapated. My three of my current cats can take it or leave it, but the little boy cat is an addict. Is there a FCA (Feline Catnip Anonymous) organisation ?

Oh yes.

BATNEEC: "Best available technique not entailing excessive cost".

CATNIP: "Cheapest available technique not involving prosecution".

We used to refer to the situation where 2 mistakes corrected each other as a SABU - Self Adjusting Balls Up.

With reference to the original question:

We use PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.

Sometimes we also talk about "problems with the chair-keyboard interface."