It's kind of amazing how we have so much information at our fingertips, yet rarely take advantage of that information. Due to systems that fix spelling errors pretty well, we often type something in sort of like what we wanted and assume it will be fixed.
I like to know what acronyms stand for and what technical terms mean before I use them. For example, I work with Gantt charts regularly. I am amazed how often people who should know better use all sorts of alternate names for the chart.
I hear Gnatt regularly. Like the insect. I see it written as GANTT, as if it were an acronym. There are a lot of acronyms in project management (PERT, RACI, PMI, BCWP, WBS), but it isn't Graphical Analysis of Numerical Task Timelines. It also isn't gantt. It's a last name. The chart was invented by Henry Gantt (or least that's who got credit for it).
You get into sketchy territory with some names, such as the Apgar test used to check newborn health and improvement within the first few minutes of birth. It is a 10 point scale, with 5 characteristics, which can be given a 0, 1, or 2. It was created by Virginia Apgar, a doctor in the 1950s. She came up with the 5 items, which were later given the eponymous backronym of Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration (APGAR). How awesome is it that it is her name but also a mnemonic to help remember the points? Isn't it good to take a few minutes and learn where it came from before you use it? I was working with a group of nurses on a curriculum development project several years ago, and we were all surprised by the origin of the acronym. I feel like the nurses shouldn't have been.
I think Henry Gantt would agree.
