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Old August 19, 2008, 03:04 PM
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Elaina Elaina is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,565
Native Language: English
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Quote:
Originally Posted by María José View Post
I heard these two words in an American show I watch with my daughter, and even though I can guess the meaning I might be wrong.
- The jocks ( the context was a group of teenagers in a high school talking about other kids). Are the jocks the popular guys?
- MIT : I guess it's a college. Am I right?
And one more thing I've just remembered:SB (you Americans use a lot more initials than the British and although I've managed to master some of them, many still escape me)
I have to admit I find initials and guessing what they stand for a great exercise, and besides they are very useful.
In some cases I choose to use the American word because it's a lot faster (I love talking about medicine and medical dramas...)
Some examples:
OR v. (operating theatre)
OB v. obstetrician or gynaecologist
CBC v. blood test
It's true that in some cases it's not only a distinction between continents but also a question of context. And aren't some vocab differences becoming blurry in this mass media world of ours?
OR = Operating Room (I don't think we call it a theatre here)
OB = Obstetrician ONLY (Gynecologist is a GYN)... which are two different specialties. There are doctors that are both so you would see OB/GYN behind their name
CBC = complete blood count
MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SB? I don't think I know what that stands for.

I guess the popularity of initials began also with the use of text messaging. Is text messaging not very popular in Europe?
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