Britain is a Nation of GOOFS

The world of acronyms just got a new addition it seems, as GOOF is added to the lexicon for journalists writing on the Business, Gaming, and Tech beats. GOOF? WTH?!

Don't worry too much about my obvious state of confusion -- I can tell you that the first time that I encountered "DINK" I was at a press briefing and upon hearing that I thought one of my colleagues was making a disparaging comment about another! Colleague A was showing off photos of her trip the previous weekend to Vail, Colorado to myself and Colleague B -- and A explained that she ran into actor Tim Allen (she had a snap that he graciously posed for standing beside her, and I bet that happens to him a lot) at dinner. While I knew who Tim Allen was, her dropping the name of the restaurant and its prized chef was an epic fail because I had no idea who he was or whether or not the restaurant was better or worse than Nathans on Coney Island. Just saying...

After A walked away, Colleague B dismissed the entire incident with the comment "If I were a DINK like her I would have snaps of my trip to Vail too!"

I did not find out until weeks later that DINK actually means "Double Income, No Kids" and is used to describe people who have more disposable income than the average family, and not as I had been under the assumption, a negative meaning. Having admitted that to you, you will probably understand that at the time I thought she was being a bitch (not an acronym).

While I had read it on numerous occasions, I only recently learned what MILF stands for; in fact there are a number of social acronyms I still do not know the meaning of, but I am too embarrassed to ask anyone in case they turn out to be like that last one... And it is not so much the sentiment being expressed that would embarrass me as it is having to admit that I am clueless when it comes to social acronyms... After all I am in an industry whose primary tool is words, I should know what they all mean, right?

Virgin Pendolino and Super Voyager trains have Wi-Fi access available with either a one-hour or 24-hour pass, Eurostar offers Wi-Fi hotspots at its major UK stations, and Heathrow Express on-train Wi-Fi access is available via T-Mobile, the question is when will the Hogwartz Express be getting WiFi?

It is not just the social-economic titles that are causing confusion these days -- thanks to the massive popularity of SMS, MMS, and EMS there are suddenly a wide variety of shorthand acronyms being used, and while the well-established ones are easy enough to understand (LOL, BRB, B4N, BFF, I have a handle on those) I still find myself scratching my head when I receive a text message with things like BCNU, FUD, LYLAS, NIMBY, SITD, or WEG -- and invariably I have to reply "TMI this TFH, have to CMA - I DBEIR & besides DILLIGAS? TTYL8R, TYVM!"

According to Bastion PR's Charlotte Le Rougetel -- the source of my exposure to GOOF -- this new and heretofore unseen acronym stands for "Gadget Obsessed Over Fifties," and I am fully prepared to believe that. Easily prepared to believe it in fact, and not just because it is coming from a professional in the world of Public Relations, but mostly because there are some very odd and even blush-worthy acronyms out there that have, in the past, caught me by surprise, as I have clearly demonstrated!

Thanks to Charlotte's press release this morning I now know that Britain is a nation of GOOFS considering that the over 50s there now own almost as much tech as the average consumer half their age. At least that is the word according to a survey about tech that was undertaken by Gadget Show Live Christmas, which takes place at ExCeL on 30 November thru 2 December this year.

The results of the survey (I did not actually read the survey itself mind you) appears to suggest that more than nine in ten over 50s in the UK own a digital camera, while three in four possess a smartphone, and almost a third play on a portable games console -- that last being a far more meaningful statistic to me than the previous two. Considering that around 22% own a PS3, a Wii, or an Xbox 360 that is great news -- but it also means that the average age of our readers is going up... Not sure if that is good news or not, but as long as they play the good games I am prepared to accept it as good news, TYVM.

I have always been willing to accept gaming partners without even the slightest thought of their age -- in fact age never enters into it when the task is assessing the realiability of a gamer you meet for the first time in the lounge as you are putting together a team for COD or Battlefield... The important thing is do they know which end of the M4 to point down-range? Are they fully aware that the pointy end is the part you want to thrust into the enemy? If the answer is yes, and yes, then hey, we are golden!