LOL

This week has been, well, revelatory. And to help wash away the bitter taste of professional disappointment, I chose to write this brief commentary dedicated to all those stalwart corporate or government workers out there who are constantly besieged by acronyms that often defy logic, but certainly prove that someone, somewhere, once had an impish sense of humor.

Now, in fairness to fun and fair play in organizations everywhere (and to avoid potential legal action from agencies with no sense of humor), I give to you a few fun acronyms that should exist out in the world. If anything, to give those cogs in the wheel something to smile about in between inventory spreadsheets, production charts, VENN diagrams, and any variation on the mind-bending TPS report made famous in the film, Office Space. Oh, and if any of these acronyms are being used somewhere, my sincerest apologies for the coincidence – or you’re welcome. Enjoy.

ARFAtomic Research Facility

BASSBasic Assessment of Strategic Skills

BATBureau of Assessments and Taxation

BUMR – Bureau of Underutilized Medical Resources

BUTTBasic Understanding of Trade Tariffs

CARECapture Actions Regarding Employment

CRAPCorporate Realignment of Asset Production

DAMNDigital Assets Management Network

DAREDepartmental Agency for Realistic Expectations

DATEDon’t Accept Tricky Euphemisms

DONT CAREDesign Only Necessary Training Curricula Applicable for Retraining Employees

DRUNCDepartment of Records Undersecretary for Narrative Content

FARTFire and Rescue Team

FLOATFinding Legal Opportunities to Avoid Taxation

GEESUSGeneral Executive Examination of Suspected Underutilized Staff

GOT SOMGovernment Office of Trade School of Management

IMPImportant Military Personnel

MEOWMain Engineering Observation Window

OOPSObjective Observations of Personnel Skillsets

ROPERecognition of Personnel Excellence

SINKSafeguarding Important Neurocomputer Knowledge

SWIMSurvey of Women in Management

UDIDUnderstanding Digital Information Design

UDIDNTUnderstanding Digital Information Design’s Network Traffic

WINEWorld Information Network Exchange

8 responses to “LOL”


  1. Brilliant! We all need a little levity in these times. It summarizes work life, a series of ARF, DAMN, and FART moments. Now I know I’ve been ‘floating’ between CARE and CRAP while hoping not to end up in the BUMR. Definitely keeping WINE on standby! 

    1. Thanks, Maria; greatly appreciate the note. I guess I may have inadvertently made a MESS (Making Every Situation Silly) of things. But I will be happy so long as I can make people SMILE (Sending More Instances of Levity Everywhere). ??

  2. Frank,

    Home now & on the mend again. Enjoyed receiving your LOL list. Glad I never worked for the Government. While I did include 25+ government agencies among my list of ‘Beltway’ clients from 1970-1985, I hesitate to list my own acronyms for certain departments like HEW, DOD, HUD, IRS, etc.

    Then agian, there were a few (GPO, GAO, State USIA, et al that did operate more like a professional & responsible business.

    Chas

    1. Chas – it’s so good to hear from you and to know that you’re back home and on the mend. Please, do take it easy and rest up as much as you can. I hear you on having your own acronym list for government agencies over the years; I’ve amassed a few of my own and some were well-deserved. ? I just wanted to have a bit of fun at the expense of agencies – both federal and private – that often took the use of acronyms to a silly extreme. I have no doubt that we both have had the pleasure of engaging with companies or governmental agencies that were quite professional and responsible in the work they did. Yet I’m sure that they have a few acronyms up their sleeves (e.g., ACHE, CATS, POP) that would elicit a chuckle or two. The ones I provided here are extremely silly, but I’m sure that there are a few real ones out there that would put some of mine to shame. ?? Thanks for taking the time to write; please take very good care.

      1. Frank,

        While, I am thankful for some silly things that can bring some needed laughter, I am sorry to say, BIG & latest Bigger Government never worked for me nor any Companies that I ran, or worked for more than 50+ yrs.

        I am not sure what companies Mrs. Harris or Gov. Waltz may have run successfully during their careers, but their track record & failed economic achievements & lack of accomplishments leave me mistrustful, and still without a clear choice. Their Dem Party remains in chaos & would not sit well with FDR, Truman or JFK, whose presidencies were among the 13 terms that we have witnessed in my lifetime. We are in need of great change.

        Sorry for the politics, but I am ceasing keeping watch on the polls & most, if not all news media, except for BBC which seems to view America’s failures as akin to their own in the UK.

      2. Chas, although I greatly respect your political observations and the manner in which you view the current landscape, I’m sorry that you missed the point of this posting. It’s neither about silliness nor the manner in which companies or government agencies operate or behave. It’s taking a moment to breathe in a bit of levity in the midst of all the death and chaos that surrounds us. To allow ourselves to smile at the idiosyncratic things we humans do to remind us that we are all flawed; we are all broken. Please, let’s leave the battle for change and political sanity where it belongs – at the voting booth. Please take good care; much love from the farm.


  3. Wow! Just what I needed today. The weather, and the news have been so bad. Is it OK to say, “Laughter is the Best Medicine!”?

    1. Sharon – thank you so much for writing! You may certainly enjoy a few laughs; even Medicare won’t put a cap on that! ???

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