Hi fellow Fodorites,
one thing that makes me (and hopefully some others too) see red is the silly >love< for abbreviations. Just read a post on infos about PNG. Where or what the hell is that? First I thought maybe Penang. But in an answer to the post was stated ^ better post it in the Australian/Pacific section^. So it cant be Penang.
A few days ago a post mentioned MHS twice. I live in Thailand and should be familiar with many things there. But it took me several minutes of heavy thinking before I recognized Mae Hong Son. How should a firsttimer to Thailand know what MHS or even Mae Hong Son is?
Another post in the Europe section just today was speaking of DBV airport without any other explanation. Where is that place by the way?
Ok, everybody in Malaysia calls Kuala Lumpur KL. But who (except insiders) does know that CM stands for Chiang Mai and HH for Hua Hin, just to mention 2.
Please guys, do me and many others a big favour and write the complete name of the place. At least when you mention it the first time in a post. For the second or third time in the same post the abbreviation seems ok.

PNG = Papua New Guinea. This one is actually pretty common and not limited to Fodors.

i, too, am frequently confused by abbreviations here. Along with airport codes, perhaps people could name the city to which these pertain! And please name the hotel, at least at the beginning of a post, rather than use abbreviations.. Thanks..

We're in the 21st century, friends. The Chicago Manual of Style served us all well through at least the 1980s, but its day has passed.

I'll use ORD or ROS because I have neither the time nor the skill to type the full names. And I certainly don't have time to read the full names, either.

OMG YGBSM! PNG = Portable Nut Grinder.

TAFN....

LOL

i admit to using some short cuts but honestly i try to spell things out....some good spelling, some not...

I think as long as you have mentioned it in long hand first so people are aware of thye abbreviation that is fine.
I too was confused by PNG??

Long hand first time and abbreviation thereafter unless the abbreviation has been in wide use on the same thread.

As D Parker said, brevity is the soul of lingerie.

Don-first Bergman, then Ms. Parker. Have you forgotten the nature of your audience? Who's next, H.L. Mencken?

we can't keep up with you lectuals

Craig,
thanks for the answer. It might be quite common, but I never heard it before, You never stop learning in your life as A. Einstein said!
rizzuto,
this is not a matter of being oldfashioned but of manners. You may spare a few seconds. But are giving some readers a hard time to find out (or even not) via internet or other sources what was meant.
Nobody for instance has all the airport codes right at hand or in mind.
By the way, in the meantime I know what DBV is. The airport code for Dubrovnik/Croatia. Took me a 2minutes search.

We better be armed with our airport abbreviation cheat sheets should we venture off to flyertalk.com then. They speak in codes.