singaporeans are famous for shortening every possible things into acronyms and one of the most popularly used one is "gss" otherwise, known as "the great singapore sale". to me it is nothing more than a gimmick to get people (locals and tourists alike) to spend their money - a month long nation-wide sale where almost every other shop will put their merchandise on sale.
anyway, my writing this post is not about acronyms. it is about how we used it to the point where it become almost a noun and the meaning of the acronym is lost in itself. so, using the "gss" as an example, i was at the shopping centre today and i saw this (see below) "gss sale"... wtf right? if we were to expand the name, it would be "the great singapore sale sales". hahah...
it reminds me of another common mistake used amongst all singaporean men - "ippt test". singaporean men serve national service (ns) and are required to undergo an individual physical proficiency test (ippt) regime to assess his fitness level. and this test is often referred to as "ippt test". and if we were to expand it, we will have "individual physical proficiency test test".
this is so singaporean.
doh!
Same goes for DBS bank
ReplyDeleteOr Safra club
But such entities have come out to say DBS or Safra are not acronyms anymore, but proper names, so it wont be wrong to say DBS bank (as compared to Development Bank of Singapore bank)
haha... righto. and we can go on.. .ocbc bank, uob bank, safti mi, safra club... but yup, as you rightly mentioned, many of these have gone ahead to use their acronyms as a brand and a noun and so the acronyms is no longer relevant.
ReplyDeleteunlike gss... or ippt... which is the crux of the issue and the observation in my post.
and if i can draw a more general conclusion, our standard of english have dropped and there is also an increased callousness in our use of the language.
myself included.
:-)