Abbreviation confusion

Signal that you spend too much time thinking about climate change: you see a teenager wearing a shirt that says ‘THC’ and assume he is expressing concern about the integrity of the thermohaline circulation.

Incidentally, it is worth remembering the difference between acronyms (which use the first letters in a phrase to produce a word you can speak) and abbreviations, which are spoken letter by letter. As such, ‘self contained underwater breathing apparatus’ becomes the acronym SCUBA while ‘United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ becomes the abbreviation UNFCCC.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023.

3 thoughts on “Abbreviation confusion”

  1. There are some interesting contrasts.

    In the Netherlands, for instance, both tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and
    the thermohaline circulation (THC) add to the happiness of the
    population. The former helps the place stay warmer than Winnipeg,
    while the latter contributes to the mellowness of the residents.

    In the United States, the adminstration has spent billions trying to
    eradicate the scourge of tetrahydrocannabinol. At the same time, it
    has actively tried to undermine efforts to protect the thermohaline
    circulation from the threat of climate change.

  2. These kinds of incidents do seem to happen every once in a while:

    “For instance, several years ago I broke a story that CSIS’s “crown jewels” – which included the spy service’s detailed battle plan for combating terrorism and foreign spies – went missing from an intelligence officer’s van while she watched a hockey game. CSIS publicly acknowledged that the missing document constituted the most serious breach in its history.”

    Doing security properly is difficult and inconvenient for those involved. It clashes with efficiency. As such, unless it is made a very high priority, lapses will occur.

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