# General Topics > General Discussion & News >  I have a complaint.

## Kurt

Can we keep the abbreviations down to a minimum please? The one that drives me me nuts is "GTF". This can mean one of two things, either a green treefrog or gray treefrog. Abbreviations can get confusing, especially this one. From now on could you please write either green TF or gray TF. If you want to continue to abbreviate in the future, could you please do it after you have mentioned the thing or term that you want to abbreviate. So for example, if you want to use GTF, please mention either "green treefrog" or "gray treefrog" early on in your post. 

Thanks.

----------


## John Clare

My favourite is wtf - to me that has nothing to do with frogs...

----------


## jclee

I know!!! I think I saw "WTF" about 5 times before I realized what people actually meant.  I couldn't get over it.   :Stick Out Tongue:

----------


## Kurt

Good I am glad some people agree with me. Remember people it won't kill you to write out what you are talking about so we can understand each other better. Would any body want to read a book where the author used abbreviations constantly, especially if that author never bothered to explain what they meant?

----------


## Tom

That would be an interesting writing style and i agree that its irritating. I also had the same experience with WTF

----------


## jclee

Guess you guys haven't read Burgess' _A Clockwork Orange_, or that book by Sapphire, the title of which escapes me now. Or any of Kerouak's unedited works, like _Dr. Sax_. Whoa.  There's some linguistic chaos.  :Wink: 

Honestly, I'm less bothered by widely accepted acronyms (MBD, CB, WC, etc.), than I am by "text speak."  I don't know why, but "u" and "rofl" bother me more than "lingo of the trade."  (My inner English teacher might be poking it's head out here, though.  Catch me on the right day, and I've got a LONG list of peeves.)

----------


## Kurt

> Honestly, I'm less bothered by widely accepted acronyms (MBD, CB, WC, etc.), than I am by "text speak." I don't know why, but "u" and "rofl" bother me more than "lingo of the trade."


I am with you. Text speak makes the people come off as less then intelligent. It also makes people who use it look too lazy and ignorant. Can't be bothered to spell a simple common everyday word.

Abbreviations like CB, LTC, and WC are widely accepted, so they don't bother me. Its the one's that are far less used or the ones people make up or the ones that lead to confusion that bother me. GTF is my least favorite as there are way too many ways to interpret it.

----------


## Ebony

Hi Kurt, I here ya. I completely understand. I wonder if the future generation will even know how to spell. SCARY :EEK!:

----------


## Kurt

They won't have to, because there is spell check, though I have noticed that some people don't even bother with that. Personally, I have set my computer's spell check to recognize scientific names and terms. So if I misspell chytridiomycosis or _Dendroaspis polylepis_, not that's likely to happen, it corrects it for me. Of course I misspell words like cat and dog all the time. LOL

----------


## Kevin1

That used to happen to me all the time with wtf.
I used to wonder why everyone was so angry. LOL

----------


## Kerry1968

Now instead of using WTF (full length version) when swearing we say 'Whites tree frog'!

----------


## Iceni

Bows head in shame  :Frown:  I think i started my last thread with GTF  :Big Grin:  Sorry

Never had the issue with WTF and WTF tho.. dunno My head just works in froggy ways on this forum.

----------


## Kurt

Its ok, just next time try to be more clearer. GTF is just the most confusing of the abbreviations.

----------


## John Clare

I can make it so the forum automatically turns WTF into White's Tree Frog.

----------


## Tom

lol idk i kinda like it now.

----------


## Kurt

idk? What's that?

----------


## Kurt

> I can make it so the forum automatically turns White's Tree Frog into White's Tree Frog.


That would work for me. And it would be cool if other abbrevations were automatcally changed too. R.E.T.F.g or R.E.L.F. to red-eyed leaf frog, RES to red-eared slider, D.I.Y. to do-it-yourself, A.B.F. to Africa bullfrog, I.D.K. to what ever that is supposed to be and so on.

Or the alternatives R.E.T.F. - really expensive turtle food, R.E.L.F. - resting elephants love flap-jacks, RES - real esoteric stuff, D.I.Y. - Did I yell?, A.B.F. - average black female, I.D.K. - idiotic dancing kanagaroos, and so on.

----------


## Kerry1968

So funny!

----------


## Ebony

Hi Guys, Since we are sort of on this subject, what does ****XD and x_____x and ._____. Im obviously not up with the play, too old maybe :Frown: . I came across it on this Forum.

----------


## Kevin1

I believe they are Internet facial expressions.
I used to spend a lot of time in aol chatrooms.
If you have a hard time with forum abbreviations, you would that the aol chatters are speaking in alien.

----------


## Jace

Half the time, I don't even register the abbreviations, but when three-quarters of it is weird little half words, is does get annoying.  I actually get my daughter to help me sometimes, since, at 12, she is more fluent in that then I am.  That, more than creaky joints and 10 o'clock bedtimes make me feel old!

Kurt, if I am correct, IDK means "I don't know".....kind of like CB lizards... :Wink:

----------


## Ebony

Thanks Kevin1, I'll have to check out the chat area then so I can get to know the new lingo. :Wink:  Thanks

----------


## John Clare

This thread now looks weird because it is automatically expanding those acronyms.

----------


## Kurt

> I believe they are Internet facial expressions.
> I used to spend a lot of time in aol chatrooms.
> If you have a hard time with forum abbreviations, you would that the aol chatters are speaking in alien.


That should stop too. We have plenty of emoticon to use here, if not we can always add more.

----------


## Johnny O. Farnen

On that note...I cannot wait for the forums to age to the point I can use the "beating a dead horse" emoticon. I so desperately wish that one was standard on all forums.

 :Flogging a Dead Horse: 


I detest that AOLspeake stuff. I fully understand that in the early days of web access, when you paid for access by the minute, it was a necessary evil. Now a days though, there is no reason for that stuff.
Many of us have enough trouble with basic English (like myself), throwing the gobbledygook into the works makes it tough. :Wink:

----------


## Tom

i believe the first two to be dead faces the Xs are dead eyes
the second one is just a face with tiny eyes at the ends

----------


## Kurt

It shouldn't have to be explained. What ever is posted on the forum should easy to read and understand, even by someone who has never ever even seen a computer. So having computer short hand and abbreviations here makes it difficult to read, especially for those whose primary language is not English.

Like I said earlier, who would buy a book if the author used computer short hand, emoticons, and unexplained abbreviations?

----------


## Kevin1

I agree, I can't stand when people are to lazy to type a word out.
 I thought the idea of expanding acronyms and abbreviations was a good idea.

----------


## Jace

Speaking of ways to make things easier for everyone to read, is there anyway to make it so whenever the latin names are used, the common names come up as well?  A lot of times I spend several minutes with my frog books open just trying to figure out which species is being talked about.  I'm trying to learn, but it's a slow process!

----------


## Tom

me to but i don't have a book so i have to try the Internet. i only know that hyla means treefrog, bufo means toad and dendrobates means dart frog

----------


## Kurt

Well, the problem with that is some taxonomic names have more then one common name. A great example of this is _Phrynomantis bifasciatus_. The field guides I have call it a red-banded rubber frog. In the pet industry I have seen it called red-banded crevice creeper, Tanzanian fire frog, red-banded walking frog, Tanzanian walking frog, and so on. The list goes on and on. The popular _Litoria caerulea_ is called the green treefrog in its native homeland and in American herpeculture it can either be called the White's treefrog or the dumpy treefrog.
That's why a lot of us use the taxonomic name, its less confusing, except to those that don't know taxonomic names. With the name _Litoria caerulea_ we know exactly what frog we are talking about. With the common name green treefrog, confusion sometimes can happen, especially on an international forum such as ours. Are we talking about _L. caerulea_ or _Hyla cinerea_ or perhaps even _H. arborea_.
I think in the future, those of us that do use these names, should also include a common name at least once in the post.

----------


## Jace

I didn't realize that so many names can be used for one species, but it does make sense when I think about it.  It would be great if, at least once, a common named was used in the post for those of us not fluent in proper scientific names.  I am getting better at recognizing certain ones-like Tom-but every once in a while I get thrown for a loop.  Not that I don't mind the challenge, but when there so many interesting posts to read it can get frustrating!  Thanks for explaining it, though, Kurt.

----------


## jclee

I know some of the latin nomenclature, but I've taken to keeping an extra browser window open to a search engine for anything I don't know.  Usually, I just do an image search, since I know what a lot of things look like, even when I can't remember the scientific name.  Really doesn't take long at all.

----------


## Crystal6

What about emoticons spelled out? Like "^_^" for instance.

----------


## Kurt

MY advice is if you want to use emoticons, go advanced and use the ones there. If they are not enough ask John to ad more. It would be less confusing to the rest of us if we are all using a standard emoticon.

----------


## Ebony

> MY advice is if you want to use emoticons, go advanced and use the ones there. If they are not enough ask John to ad more. It would be less confusing to the rest of us if we are all using a standard emoticon.


 
Here here :Smile:

----------


## Tom

:Frog Surprise: What other smiley faces can you get???

----------


## Crystal6

Quite a few. I'm a sucker for anime style (^_^) emoticons though. Even if they have strange kitty faces. (Cats and frogs... not usually a good combination)

----------


## Tom

are there any more amphibian related ones?

----------


## Crystal6

> are there any more amphibian related ones?


Hm.. I see  :Frog Smile:  and :Frog Surprise: 

If there are anymore I can't find them. :Big Grin:  (<- Not sure if that counts. It is green and has no defined nose. Might just be a green human though.)

----------


## Kurt

How about these?

----------


## John Clare

Where did you get those from Kurt?

----------


## Crystal6

> Where did you get those from Kurt?


Saaay while you're here. Any chance of a shift eye "<_< >_>" emoticon or an anime "^_^" emoticon? Shifty eyes would save me a lot of trouble. (Maybe make it a scary looking one for added humor? I don't care which.)

----------


## Johnny O. Farnen

Excellent! Just the chance I have been waiting for!

 :Flogging a Dead Horse: 



<facetious laugh>

----------


## Kurt

> Where did you get those from Kurt?


They are from AOL. When you have an AOL account you can choose what emoticon use want to use, I chose frogs.

----------


## Ebony

Hey Kurt, whats AOL?? :Big Grin:

----------


## Kurt

America on Line.

----------

