Annoying abbreviations, included my most hated, "rUK"

Just felt the urge for a mild rant about abbreviations that annoy me. I'll start with rUK.

If/when Scotland gets independence from the UK then we can consider changes of the name of the state currently known as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but until then there is Scotland and the UK, of which it is part of.
There is no new place with the twee little abbreviation of rUK other than in Scotland and some Northern English members here unfortunately using it.

If I'm talking about issues in say Wales should I now phrase it as "Oh yes, the devolved NHS in Wales has longer waiting times than rUK" Why? It is an annoying and unnecessary label as far as I see it. Too lazy to type "Oh yes, the devolved NHS in Wales has longer waiting times than the rest of the UK" or "Oh yes, the devolved NHS in Wales has longer waiting times than the UK average" is what I think.
And yes it mildly annoys me.

I discovered that there have even been calls to Collins English Dictionary to have the word included in their next edition.
I am pleased with their response...

This word is not sufficiently established for inclusion yet, but we will continue to monitor it over time. If you find more evidence please post a comment and we'll review it.

Lets end the use of this silly and divisive abbreviation. There is the UK when we are discussing independence issues, and there is Scotland, currently in the UK. There is no "rUK", and no need for one. I can easily ask "How will independence for Scotland affect the UK" without any need at all for the lower case "r".
Annoying and pathetic pop culture bull#.

Now, on to K9 Who the # actually calls their dog a canine?! Really?
Then "K9 Unit", is it for US cops to sound cool or something? It even takes longer to say with the added syllable compared to "Dog Unit", that's what British police call it, kinda makes more sense to me but hey, I look forward to any explanations.

Also, POTUS What is that all about? Are people unable to understand that if a political debate is about say, "What is the President doing about military funding issues?" or whatever, then even as a Brit I know you are not referring to the president of the local housing association or golf club. Why the obsession with abbreviations when they are not needed?

Right, that's enough of my mild rantings for now, I'm off to go shake my cane at any kids playing near my yard haha
...LOL, ROFL, YOLO, FWIW, TYVM

Tldr.

Says him with "SW" England under his avatar.

a reply to: nonspecific

Haha good one

a reply to: EnigmaAgent

Haha again, very good
I couldn't fit 'South West' in.

a reply to: grainofsand

kk totes understandable.

a reply to: grainofsand

"I'm a 90's girl" vs "I'l a 2k girl"

That does sound better than saying "I'm a two thousands girl"

originally posted by: grainofsand
Now, on to K9 Who the # actually calls their dog a canine?! Really?
Then "K9 Unit", is it for US cops to sound cool or something? It even takes longer to say with the added syllable compared to "Dog Unit", that's what British police call it, kinda makes more sense to me but hey, I look forward to any explanations.

Canine is the scientific name for a dog.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yes of course I knew that, I was asking who the # actually calls their dog that?
"Hey Honey, I'll just take the canine out for a quick walk" Really?

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

Haha, twat!

a reply to: wasaka

I'll agree with you there, but everyone I know in the UK calls the period 2000 to 2010 the 'Noughties', 2K is not as popular as far as I am aware.
What do I know though, I'm a 70's bloke.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Cobaltic1978

Haha, twat!

'Totes is only a small step away from amazeballs and if anyone says that even in jest I shall be alerting the mod's for an immidiate ban.

a reply to: grainofsand

Well authority institutions like to use official names, so it isn't surprising that the police would use an official name for their dog units.

a reply to: nonspecific

Blates Bruv

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Must be a US thing, any idea why, maybe to sound more cool or something?
British police just call it the dog unit, too boring I guess. Although they are far from boring, you wouldn't want their bad boys on you, I've complied instantly a dog handler has told me to, everytime. Keep the pseudo respect for the handler while he's still holding that lead/leash haha.

a reply to: nonspecific


What a totes amazeballs idea dood!!

a reply to: grainofsand

I'd say it is a matter of professionalism, but I'm not entirely sure abbreviating it "K-9" is very professional. That's akin to some punk teenager abbreviating "skater" to "s8er". My guess would be that they started out calling it "canine unit" for professionalism reasons then some yahoo trying to update the image at some point was like, "Hey the word nine is in the name, we could abbreviate it K-9 and it would look hipper!"

a reply to: blupblup

k whatevs ty

a reply to: grainofsand


is it...bare libs bruv.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Haha, that's kind of how I imagine it
I can't help it though, when I see it in posts like "When the K-9 unit turned up the suspect complied" I think what the # is a K-9, some robo-dog or something?!
I guess I'm just used to snarling from UK police dog units, just as scary though, but they sound less like programmed machines than K-9.