I'm relatively new to the trading scene and find the acronym and abbreviation list a little daunting, and frankly intimidating. Googling for the acronym + beer is usually pretty good way to go about finding what [insert acronym or abbreviation] actually means, however those searches do not always return the beer in question and sometimes actually point back to the trade thread. I also understand that the 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it' mentality prevails but it can turn new people off as well as turning away non-hardcore traders. I've done a few searches on the forum both overall and in trading but haven't found a thread dedicated to this topic. So I have a few questions: Do others feel the same way? Is this a stupid concept (if so, I'll go sit quietly in the corner? Is there an existing database (likely google sheets) that people turn to? If not, would people like one created? Is there an accepted single acronym per beer (e.g., 2014 Goose Island Vanilla Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout = VR)? If not, I suppose the database could have several columns. Should a policy try to be established where acronyms are assigned links to beer pages when trades are created? I know this last one seems like more work but could be helpful.
Sometimes an excessive use of acronyms in a sentence describes more about the poster than describes the beer. There's no harm in asking.
There have been many threads on this. Since I became a member, I would say that it has popped up about every 4 months on average. There is nothing wrong with feeling this way, obviously others do. There is in fact a website that tries to catalogue these acronyms, but I am not sure it is up to date. The general sentiment from all these threads by helpful users can usually be summed up by: 1) first you don’t know, you probably do not have it (or maybe cannot afford it, although that usually seems more dumb to me) 2) some are unnecessary. Using ILMTR for “I Let My Take Rock” seems unnecessary when you can just say “Tape Rock,” and everyone knows that. Probably the same reason behind why Vanilla Rye is VR not BCVRBS. 3) Acronyms (I think) are sometimes used as a filter. If you don’t know what JD Cake is, you definitely don’t have one or don’t want one, because it is old and a ghost at this point, and anyone that is FT or ISO will know what it is. 4) Social Media *****s increase the proliferation. On social media you can (or maybe only want) to say so much. If you’re trying to trade on top of it, the people viewing your Instagram posts know what”ILMTR” means, and there’s no need to explain. Those kids are at the forefront of the trading hypeness. Hope this helps.
The biggest problem with the acronyms is the lack of "searchability". Using VR makes it impossible to pull up all Vanilla Rye ISO:FT's...unless there's a trick I'm unaware of.
