Compact Speech

[Pete Kemp <kempp@bethel.k12.ct.us>]

We really are in a fast paced world. There is a constant undercurrent of, 
we need everything fast and 24/7. Time constraints
many times force announcers to speed up deliveries, or to share information 
quickly, in the precious few momemnts they are
allocated to complete a segment. Previous discussions concerned mechanical 
speech compression, how about
ABBREVIATIONS? Just a few years ago no one ever heard the abbreviation MLB 
used for Major League Baseball. RBIs,
ERAs, TDs, PATs are pretty common today. The abbreviation that I really 
don't care for is LA (pronouced Lah, as in tra-la-la)
Tech. When I first heard it, I was thinking Los Angles? No, they were 
talking the postal code for Lousiana! Is there feeling that
by throwing around abbreviations they are in the know and you aren't? 
Self-puffing? I am not advocating the abolishment of
abbreviations, they can be fun and are part of process, but how about 
educating the listeners once and a while too? While
basketball, hockey and other fast paced sports may implement these phrases 
and abbreviations to maximize the event for the
listeners, flushing out the delivery once and a while can be effective to 
clarify things for casual listeners. TTFN
Pete