Mnemonically Speaking

As language has grown and evolved over the years, we have seen both phrases and names shortened down to just their first letters. All Australian children learn about the ANZACs in school and most of us figure out that QANTAS must stand for something because you don’t exactly say it like you spell it. I’m pretty sure that everyone of my acquaintance would be able to understand a reference to an ETA or being MIA and I think everyone I know who is able to understand the concept of an IQ, knows it is related to intelligence.

There are a few lesser known mnemonics and references around however which are slowly trying to maintain their tenuous foothold in the English language. Some have been more effective than others but I do wonder whether I will be able to say the following in ten years time: I know a few people who are no stranger to PDA’s, enjoy having BONPA buddies and seem to have the personal motto of FIGJAM to inspire them each day. Although to be honest, whether it actually holds any relevance or meaning may also be the question in ten years time as morals and attitudes slowly shift.

For those of you who haven’t encountered these abbreviations yet, let me enlighten you. A PDA is a Public Display of Affection that may consist of the holding of hands in the full view of others right through to the behaviour found in nightclubs where it appears occasionally that ‘anything goes’. Oddly enough though, it would seem that some people tend to graduate from engaging in overt PDA’s to becoming BONPA buddies where any relationship reverts to a Bonking Only, No Public Appearances one. This concept has also been expressed by the euphemism ‘naked friends’ and various other cant phrases.

FIGJAM is a relatively new one I think and in my opinion, unlikely to take off but I did hear it the other night and it summed up someone I knew perfectly. The F actually stands for something I won’t write, the tamer version of which would possibly be something like Far-out. The rest stands for I’m Good, Just Ask Me. As more people seem to compromise less in relationships, this could be indicative of the way we view ourselves and what interaction we have with others.

Like the behaviour associated with the other mnemonics, we may be adapting our values to move with the times or maybe its merely that as some say, life imitates art. When someone comes up with something new, we adapt to give it validity. On the other hand, maybe some of us just like being clever and want to introduce something and make it ‘in’.