Re: Acronyms

[Paul Williams paulwilliams5@xxxxxxxx]

Indeed. And, for a non American, WHAT on earth does it mean??????

Paul Williams

At 05:01 AM 14-04-99 -0400, you wrote:
>YMMV:
>
>My wife and I grew up in America; we both left the country for prolonged
>periods (1968-85 in my case) but returned to live there 1985-95. We are
>both highly (if not over-) educated; we both read daily newspapers, _The
>New Yorker_ et al. My wife is superlatively retentive of what she reads.
>But a few months ago, when I mentioned to her the phrase "Your mileage may
>vary" -- saying that I thought its addition to the repertoire of
>catchphrases or verbal shorthand filled a useful gap entertainingly -- she
>was baffled by it.
>
>I now think that YMMV -- unlike IMHO, FWIW, or even AFAK, which compress
>phrases that should be familiar to every competent English-speaker
>including non-natives -- is bound to a specific culture and should be
>avoided unless you know whom you're sending it to.
>
>Just my 2 cents' worth (another phrase I'd be sorry to see compressed into
>an acronym).
>
>Cheers
>Eric Van Tassel
>