RE: Acronyms & Abbreviations--Just Say NO!

[MList -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

I, for one, don't want to read OR write "Hypertext Markup Language" 
all the time, when "HTML" is an option.

Similarly, the people who work on/with a product tend to create 
and use initialisms and acronyms, so the usual response of the 
technical writer is to spell them out at first usage (and define 
'em if required), to ENSURE that everybody is talking the same 
language.  If the reader is out of his/her depth and STILL won't 
refer to the Glossary or navigation tools, then there comes 
a time where we must stop kissing his/her rump and get on with 
the task at hand... delivering useful information to the majority 
of the target audience.

Isn't it fairly standard to define a certain anticipated/required 
level of knowledge/familiarity on the part of the reader and then 
NOT talk down to them or clutter their path with baby-talk in 
the main document?  Isn't it fairly standard to put extended 
explanatory and catch-up information in appendices?  Or in the 
"For Dummies" book?

/kevin

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