Stop Using Acronyms
May 2026
I joined an org where every doc had about two acronyms per sentence. At first it made me feel slow. Then I realized it wasn't me — it was just poor communication.
The purpose of communication is to be understood. Acronyms work against that. They assume shared context that often doesn't exist, and they add a translation layer in the reader's head that slows everything down. The writer saves three words. Everyone else pays for it.
People use acronyms thinking shorter means clearer. It usually doesn't. A longer descriptor that everyone understands beats a short one that half the room has to Google.
It's okay to write out the full name of a metric or a project. Your docs will be easier to read, easier to share across teams, and easier to revisit six months later when nobody remembers what the acronym stood for.