[Three-Letter Acronym]
1. Self-describing abbreviation for a species with which computing
terminology is infested.
2. Any confusing acronym. Examples include MCA, FTP, SNA, CPU, MMU,
SCCS, DMU, FPU, NNTP, TLA. People who like this looser usage argue
that not all TLAs have three letters, just as not all four-letter
words have four letters. One also hears of `ETLA' (Extended
Three-Letter Acronym, pronounced /ee tee el ay/) being used to
describe four-letter acronyms; the terms `SFLA' (Stupid Four-Letter
Acronym), `LFLA' (Longer Four Letter Acronym), and VLFLA (Very Long
Five Letter Acronym) have also been reported. See also {YABA}.
The self-effacing phrase "TDM TLA" (Too Damn Many...) is often used
to bemoan the plethora of TLAs in use. In 1989, a random of the
journalistic persuasion asked hacker Paul Boutin "What do you think
will be the biggest problem in computing in the 90s?" Paul's
straight-faced response: "There are only 17,000 three-letter
acronyms." (To be exact, there are 26^3 = 17,576.) There is probably
some karmic justice in the fact that Paul Boutin subsequently became
a journalist.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {Big Red Switch}{BWQ}{MEGO}{OSS}{YABA}]