Issue #109   March 2022

Break the ‘Curse of Knowledge’ by explaining acronyms

Dear <<First Name>>:
 
What does PXO mean?
 
The mysterious case of PXO began with a pile of traffic cones at two nearby parks. A few weeks later, signs arrived, announcing a “PXO Program.” It was a term I’d never heard, and the name of the contractor involved (Aqua Tech Solution Inc.) suggested water might be involved. Puzzling.
 
I had to visit the town’s website to find out PXO means “Pedestrian Crossover Control” (so, technically PXOC). Oh, I guess these are long-awaited crosswalks coming to the school bus stops!
 
Nice that the town (sort of) alerted residents, but “Crosswalk coming soon” would have been clear instead of confusing.
 
As with most acronyms and abbreviations, PXO probably makes perfect sense to the people working on the project. They use the initials all the time. They can’t imagine someone scratching their head and wondering what those seemingly random letters mean.
 
They have the Curse of Knowledge, also called the Curse of Expertise. The Curse of Knowledge means that “once you know something, it’s hard to imagine not knowing it,” say brothers Chip and Dan Heath in Made to Stick. That makes it harder to communicate clearly.
 
Besides being unclear, “Text studded with abbreviations is hard to read and unsightly,” says The Canadian Press Stylebook. “Avoid it when an option exists.”
 
Here’s how:

1. Use another word rather than initials or abbreviations. “For ease of reading or variety, a general term is often preferable to an abbreviation,” says the Stylebook. This applies to a second reference as well.
❌  “Wildlife/Vehicle Collisions (WVCs).” Sorry, WVC is an abbreviation your reader will soon forget.
✅  “Wildlife/Vehicle Collisions” on first use; “collisions” afterwards

2. If someone insists you use abbreviations, spell them out. Don’t assume everyone knows what the initials stand for.
“Not everyone knows that MADD means Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” say Strunk and White in The Elements of Style. “Even if everyone did, there are babies born every minute who will someday encounter the name for the first time. They deserve to see the words, not simply the initials."

3. Spell the term in full on first mention, with initial letters in brackets if they will be used again elsewhere.
❌ KPIs (key performance indicators)
✅ Key performance indicators (KPIs)

4. Try to avoid using several sets of abbreviations in one sentence or you’ll end up with alphabet soup.
❌ “The CEO asked for YTD KPIs related to SG&A expense.”
✅ “[Name] asked for the current performance on our Selling, General and Admin expenses.”

5. Explain non-English abbreviations that may be unfamiliar, or acronyms that don’t match the explanation (like PXO mentioned earlier).
✅ “SOQUIP, which stands for a French name meaning Quebec Petroleum Development Corp.”