Tuesday, January 18, 2011

For the Love of Acronyms

I work with grants.  Most of them are research grants.  I get to see a lot of acronyms.  They often try to be cute and witty. Today one of my proposals had one that may make my top five.  It wasn't trying to be cute. In fact, I think it was an acronym from a British title, so if it was trying to be witty, it might have gone over my head.  The acronym was NIMROD and it referred to a piece of equipment used for very precise scientific measurements.  It made for a great proposal full of great statements like, "The recent arrival of NIMROD has opened up major opportunities..." "the purpose of NIMROD is to strengthen the synergy between experiment and theory," and "NIMROD provides continuous access..."  I may have a fifth grade sense of humor, but I was thoroughly amused all day.

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