- When Greene uses examples from different age groups, different cultures, and different languages it just proves that his point is broader than just an American view of acronyms. It shows that his main idea can span over cultural differences, linguistic differences, and age differences. His examples give him credibility and makes us, the audience more responsive to believing him.
- Some examples of phrases that show Greene’s attitude towards acronyms would be “Now, LOL means ‘you just said something so amusing my lip curled for a moment there.”, “the one who used to be just the boss , or the managing director, now styles himself the CEO… This alone would be one thing, but it turned into a viral infection”, and “then since nobody want to say [erectile dysfunction] either, ‘ED.'”, these all show his disdain for acronyms. He feels as if they dilute and water down our language and written language. This reminds me of 1984 and the idea of “new speak”.
- Greene defends acronyms when talking about both the military and medical field. He does this people using acronyms can help people face the reality that either they can lose their lives be fighting in war or by an illness. It separates the reality from the words and allows the people not to dwell on the fact that they are facing life or death. They use acronyms as a framing tool to put something grim into a more pleasant light, for example “ED” doesn’t sound as bad as “erectile dysfunction”.
- The statements don’t contradict each other because although acronyms seem American, and other cultures use American acronyms like “LOL” doesn’t mean that the culture itself isn’t seeking acronyms within their own language. For example the Chinese have acronyms based on a “character-based” language, this proves that multiple people are seeking a quicker way of writing in this fast paced world.
- The “seductive quasi-certainty” is when soldiers used acronyms in place by the government as a way to poke fun at something by changing the acronyms meaning, like when soldiers talk “ISAF” which stands for “International Stabilization Force for Afghanistan” and joke that it actually stands for “I suck at fighting”. This allows the soldiers to separate themselves from the reality like I discussed in question three. Also, it show that acronyms aren’t always used as intended. “LOL” used to be for when something was actually funny, and now it is used as a filler for a text conversation. This shows that just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the meaning of an acronym is in brain of the interpreter.
Again, I apologize for the mild lateness. Thank you.
ashleygilbert1 