Initial thoughts

It's interesting in this fast-paced world that we don't even have time to talk anymore -- with complete words, that is. Just FYI, I'll get to my point ASAP.

Does it really take too long to say "for your information" or "as soon as possible"? LMK. You know, LMK ... "let me know." At some point, a certain initialism or acronym reaches critical mass and we no longer have to spell it out, so to speak.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know what FBI or CIA stand for? How about DJ or MVP or PMS? We know now -- though at one point it was something new, just like all those text message shortcuts are foreign to me these days.

To add to the confusion, every occupation has its own set of abbreviations, too. (If you want to see a funny illustration of this, watch "Renaissance Man." It's an old Danny Devito movie where he had to learn all the Army abbreviations -- way beyond KP.) Insurance companies have their HMOs and PPOs. Large corporations have their ROIs. And accountants have their IRAs.

What if two worlds collide and they share the same abbreviation? It happens.

We were at the bank so Carter could deposit some money into his savings account. Don't ask me how he accumulated $57 over the summer, but he did -- and was smart enough not to spend any of it (that I know of). So he makes his deposit and looks at his balance. He was quite happy because I have been putting money from each of my paychecks in there so it has grown more than he expected.

"Plus, we have that money on the disk," he says.

Money on the disk? The hamster is turning the wheel as fast as it can in my head and getting nowhere. Then the light bulb goes on. "The disk?" I say. "Oh you mean the CD?"

"Yeah," says Carter. Ahhh. OK. I'm trying hard not to laugh. Just breathing in and out as I explain: "Actually the CD stands for Certificate of Deposit. It's not a music CD."

We got it squared away. Made me wonder what else we assume everyone knows. I mean, you know what happens when we assume. Don't you? Or haven't you young folks heard that one yet? LMK, K?