slave day

     Slave Day was once a traditional high school event. On slave day, upperclassmen--juniors and seniors--could "buy" sophomores. The sophomores sold themselves to raise money  for their class trip, or for the sophomore dance. If a sophomore was purchased by a junior or senior, he or she had to carry his owner's books all day. Sophomores were let out of class early to meet their "masters", so they would be in time to carry their books from one class to another. Other conditions were sometimes imposed, such as a silly outfit, but as a practical reality, only if the "slave" would put up with it. The sophomore class treasurer already had the money, anyway ( a slave went for $2, or something close to it ). Some schools called this "plebe" day.

sorry Joyce

I think that I shall never see
A yarn bomb lovely as a tree
If any more are knit this fall
I'll never see a tree at all

colors

Some colors are used to describe or convey emotion, or other attributes--
red--( angry ) He saw red, he was so angry.
red--( embarrassed ) His face turned red with embarrassment.
yellow--( cowardice ) They accused him of being yellow, but he claimed that he wasn't a coward.
green--( envy, jealousy ) She was green with envy.
green--( nausea ) He felt so ill that he turned green.
blue--( sad ) He was blue for weeks when she left.
purple--( royalty) She often dreamed of one day wearing the purple.
purple--( rage) His face was purple with rage.
pink--( health)  He has been ill, but now he's in the pink.
black--( gloom and doom ) He was in a black mood, and nothing could cheer him.
black--( mourning )  They wore black for a year after the funeral.
brown--( depressed )  He has been in a brown study ever since he lost his job.
white--( fear or shock ) When he heard the noise, he turned white as a sheet.
white--( purity, virginity )  The bride wore white, even though it was her third wedding.

Colors can be political or historical--
red--a communist
pink--a communist sympathizer, or "pinko"
orange--an Irish person who thinks Ireland should remain with Great Britain
white Russian--a Russian who thought that the Russian monarchy should be restored, after 1917
green--a member of the ecology party
brownshirts--( fascists ) They hid indoors when the brownshirts marched through the town.

Colors can be about economics--
red--( a financial loss ) Our company has been in the red for weeks--we are losing money.
black--( a financial gain ) We are finally in the black, and are making a profit.

Colors may refer to things--
black and white--( in print or writing )  Make sure you have it in black and white.
a black and white--a police car
There's a black and white parked around the corner.
black and white--a chocolate and vanilla shake
I'd like a black and white shake and an order of fries.
black and white--overly simple philosophy
It's not all as as simple as black and white.
green--( money ) When he sees the green, he'll make a deal.
greens--( leafy vegetables ) Eat your greens; they're good for you.
pinks--( flowers )  She planted pinks and  zinnias.
orange-- ( an orange ) Could we have some orange juice?

Colors may give directions--
red--( stop )  You didn't stop on the red!
green--( go ) It's green! Let's go!
yellow-- ( caution or slow ) It's yellow; slow down.
orange--( detour or construction ) I can't see what they're doing, but there's an orange sign.

Colors may warn--
red--( urgent ) The letter said "final notice", and was printed on red paper.
yellow--( illness)  Ships still carry a yellow flag to warn of illness.
black--( plague or serious illness ) The black flag means that there is plague aboard that ship.

hanging in effigy

     To hang someone "in effigy" ( eff ih gee ) meant to hang a dummy, perhaps made of real clothing with a stuffed sack for a head. The "effigy" might have a sign on it, with the name of the person who was "hanged", and the reason for the "hanging". During the years before the American Revolution, hanging in effigy was a popular form of political protest. Although it made a gruesome display ( criminals were still hanged at the time), it was not usually meant as a threat of actual violence. It was punished as a crime because speaking out against the government or its policies was considered sedition, or perhaps treason.
     Our Constitution guarantees us freedom of speech, which in recent years has been extended to "symbolic speech"--cartoons, images, and other symbols. Symbolic speech would not be considered sedition or treason, but a display of "hanging in effigy" might still be prosecuted as  a form of terrorism or making terroristic threats, since the effigy is meant to represent a real person.

esperanto

     In the late 1960's and 70's, there was a lot of interest in Esperanto. I haven't seen it mentioned again until recently--I assumed it went the way of making furniture out of the weeds in the backyard, and other groovy 60's stuff. Esperanto was, or is, an invented language--it sounds like a bastardized version of Spanish.  The man who invented it, in the late 19th century,  had the idea that if everyone studied it, people all over the world could talk to one another. The idea sounds very reasonable, but most of the people interested in it seemed to have a somewhat tenuous grasp of reality. Esperanto was supposed to be so simple that it could be learned in a matter of weeks. The main problem was that the only people an Eperanto-speaker could speak to were the other Esperanto-speakers from the Esperanto class. The Esperanto speakers might have done better learning a pidgin language. A pidgin language develops out of necessity, taking and using any words or phrases it needs to communicate effectively, and ignoring everything else. People who work on the merchant ships speak a pidgin of only several hundred words, and manage to work together at varied and complex tasks.     
     Although it never became a useful language, Esperanto would make a good research subject. Through study of Esperanto we might learn why people so often ignore invented or synthetic symbols and words, while taking up words and phrases that develop organically.

tautology

      There are so many ways to be wrong, that to define them formally, as in a class on logic, they have each been given names.   
       A tautology is the formal name for a logical error--the error of using a thing to explain a thing. "He killed them because he's a serial killer" is a tautology. It is not an explanation, although it sounds something like one. Serial killers kill people, so that part is true. But illogical. He didn't kill them because he's a serial killer. The because renders the sentence illogical. "He killed them because he's a serial killer" makes no more sense than "it's raining because it's wet out". It may be raining out, and wet, but it isn't raining because it's wet. Wet is not the cause of the rain. Serial killing is not the cause of the murder.

King Arthur

     I came home with yet another re-telling of the Arthurian legends the other day, in which Arthur is described as a "just king".  I have read these stories before, and am a bit surprised at this description of Arthur. Arthur didn't have anything like a modern notion of "justice".  In Arthur's world view, the crown on his head made him "right", because God had put it there. Whatever he did must be "right", because he was the king. The knights of the round table were a part of this, and definitely believed that "might makes right". According to the ancient stories, England was beset by knights who would kill for personal gain or for sport, of a kind. Arthur and his knights were going to use their might to defeat these knights, and to make them a part of the round table, if possible. They had no notion of justice to back this up. Defeating the knights would make them "right", and the knights would go along with this idea to the extent that they shared the "might makes right" philosophy.
    In the days of Arthur and the knights of the round table, an "ordeal by combat" was considered a trial. The winner of the combat ( fight ) was "right". The side the winner was fighting for won its case when he won the combat. The people believed that God had helped the "right" person to win, so this was also a matter of faith. The crime didn't really matter. If a knight killed someone, and then won a trial by combat, he was deemed innocent of murder, because God had taken his side. If a knight stole, and then won a trial by combat, he was deemed innocent of theft.
      "Might makes right" is not the same as the rule of law. It may seem reasonable to argue that it was a step in the right direction, but the argument that it was a step in the wrong direction seems just as reasonable, if not more so. Humankind might have reached for a standard of the rule of law much sooner if we hadn't spent 1,000 years believing, as many people still do, that "might makes right".

blood types

     You have probably heard of blood types. You have a blood type. I have a blood type. Everyone has a blood type. It's useful to know your own blood type, but many people don't. There are four blood types: "A", "B", "AB", and "O" ( letter O ). The "A" means there is an "A" substance ( an antigen ) in the blood. The "B" means that there is a "B" substance ( an antigen ) in the blood. The "AB" has both the "A" and the "B" antigens. The "O" does not have either antigen. Blood type has nothing to do with age, race, gender or class. Everyone is born with a certain type of blood, and that's it. Each blood type also has a - ( -), for negative, or a (+), for positive. The blood is negative for ( doesn't have ) or positive for ( does have ) another substance, called a "rhesus factor", or "Rh factor".
    Each person carries a blood marker of a kind ( an allele ) from each of his or her parents. A person who has type "AB" blood has an "A" from one parent and a "B" from the other. We know what the two "markers" are. A person with type "O" blood has an "O" from one parent and an "O" from the other--or the blood wouldn't be type "O", so we know what the markers are.
   The "A" and "B" types are a bit different, detection-wise. A person with type "A" blood got an "A" from one parent, that's obvious. But the other marker may be either an "A" or an "O" ( meaning no antigen ), and the blood would still be type "A". We might call these two possibilities "AA" and "AO"--both type "A".
     The person with type "B" blood got a "B" marker from one parent, but is the other marker a "B" or an "O"? The blood would be type "B" either way. We could call these possibilities "BB" and "BO"--both type "B".
     One of the interesting things about blood type is that we can see a simple set of traits through a line of inheritance. For example, two people with type "O" blood will have only children with type "O" blood. Always. They have no "A" or "B" antigens to pass on to an offspring.
    Two people with type "AB" blood will have children with "A", "B", or "AB" blood. We might think of the possible combinations as "AA", "AB" and "BB".
    The other combinations are just as simple--one from each parent, each time. An "AA" and an "AO"?
"AA" or "AO" children--all type "A".
An "AO" and an "AO"? "AA", "AO", or "OO". Some children with "A", some with "O".
A "BB" and a "BO"? "BB" or "BO" children, all type "B".
A "BO" and a "BO"? "BB", "OO" or "BO" children--type "B" or "O".
"AB" and "AA"?  "AA" or "AB" children.
"AB" and "BB"? "AB" or "BB" children.
"AB" and "AO"? "AA", "AB", "AO", or "BO" children--type "A", "B", or "AB".
"AB" and "BO"? "AB", "AO", "BB", or "BO" children--type "A", "B", or "AB".
     The positive and negative blood factors are inherited in the same way, one from each parent. One positive makes a positive blood type, since the positive means the presence of the factor--not how much.
So it takes two negatives to make a negative. Parents may be ++, --, or +-, so we can follow the inheritance of the factor. Two parents with Rh negative blood have only Rh negative children. The "positives" may be carrying a "negative" to pass along to an offspring--when both parents contribute a "negative", the blood type is negative. When one parent contributes a positive, the blood type is positive.
      Almost as easy as following a head of red hair or a case of near-sightedness.

representation

     In the United States, each elected representative represents a particular constituency. The representative's constituency is made up of all of the people who voted for him or her, or who might have. They live in a particular physical district. The representative runs in an election in which only the people who make up his or her constituency vote. There are other elections happening at the same time, perhaps with different constituencies. It might be useful to think of the constituency as a physical place ( which it is ) or a piece of "turf". When we vote for the president, everyone in the country votes, or may vote, and the "turf" is the United States. When we vote in a gubernatorial election--for the governor of our state--only the people in our state may vote. The "turf" is the state. Pennsylvania is my state. You may live in another state. When we vote for the mayor of Philadelphia, only the people who live in Philadelphia may vote. Philadelphia is the turf. The people in New York have their own mayoral election.
   We all have other representatives. Each state has two senators in the United States Senate. Everyone in the state gets to vote for these. We also have representatives ( congressmen or congresswomen  ) in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. Everyone lives in a congressional district--the "turf" of a congressman or congresswoman. I live in the United States ( national ) 2nd Congressional District.
   Each of us also has representatives to our state's congress and senate. I live in Pennsylvania's 4th Senatorial District. I also live in Pennsylvania's 198th Congressional or State House district. The representatives who run for election in these state districts represent me in our state's capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I also live in Philadelphia's 8th City Council district. Our City Council member represents our district at City Council meetings, in Philadelphia's City Hall.
     I vote a couple of blocks away, where all of the different representatives may be running in the same election. I have to vote on my own "turf", since local elections may mean that  one representative's "turf" ends at the next street--maybe right in the middle.

initials in the news

A is an aggressive personality, type A
A a blood type
A outstanding ( school grade )
A atom, as in A Bomb, atom bomb, a nuclear weapon
A average ( pants length ) 
AA  Alcoholics Anonymous
AAA Automobile Association of America
AARP American Association of Retired Persons
AB a blood type
ABC American Broadcasting Company
ABC Alcoholic Beverage Control ( or a variation )
AC air conditioning
AC alternating current ( electricity from a wall socket or plug )
AC Atlantic City ( NJ ) 
AC/DC alternating current/direct current ( runs on batteries or through electrical power cord )
ACGT Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine ( nucleic acids that make up the genetic code )
ACLU American Civil Liberties Union
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADW assault with a deadly weapon ( police ) 
AFL-CIO  American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization
AFPO Armed Forces Post Office, Air Force Post Office
AFT American Federation of Teachers
AFT Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco
AI artificial intelligence  ( computer design/programming idea, to make a "smart" computer )
AKA also known as ( legal or police )
AM ante meridiem --morning ( from midnight to noon )
AM amplitude modulation ( radio band )
AMA American Medical Association
AM-PM night and day ( all night convenience store or gas station )
AOL America On Line
AOK all okay, everything's fine
AP Advanced Placement
AP Associated Press
A&P Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company ( grocery store ) 
APO Army Post Office ( military )
APB all points bulletin ( police )
ARA Automatic Retailers of America ( now Aramark, operates cafeterias, food services )
ARC Association for Retarded Citizens
ASCAP American Society of Composers ans Performers
ATF Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
ATM automatic teller machine
AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph
AWOL absent without leave ( military ) 
B is a mellow type personality
B a blood type
B above average ( school grade )
B and O   Baltimore and Ohio 
B day  birthday
BA Bachelor of Arts
BBB Better Business Bureau
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
BCE before the common era , formerly BC, before Christ
BF boyfriend
BFF best friend(s) forever
BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs ( US govt. )
bid  bis in die--twice a day ( medicine ) 
BLT bacon, lettuce and tomato
BMI Body Mass Index
BMOC Big man on campus
BO body odor
BOGO buy one get one ( groceries )
BOMC Book-of-the-Month-Club
BOT Board of Trade
BP blood pressure
BP British Petroleum
BR bedroom
BRS bedrooms
BS Bachelor of Science
BS Behavioral Sciences
BS bulls---
BSA Boy Scouts of America
BTU British thermal unit
BVD's  Bradley, Voorhees & Day ( men's underwear )
BVM Blessed Virgin Mary
BYOB bring your own bottle
C centigrade ( temperature )
C 100 ( Roman numerals or American slang )
C cold ( faucet )
C average ( school grade )
CB citizen's band  ( radio )
CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBS Columbia Broadcasting System
CC cubic centimeter
CCD Confraternity of Christian Doctrine ( catechism ) 
CCU critical care unit
CD compact disc
CD certificate of deposit
CDC Center for Disease Control ( US govt. )
CDT Central Daylight Time
CE common era , formerly AD, Anno Domini---the Year of Our Lord
CEO chief executive officer
CIA Central Intelligence Agency ( US govt. )
CID Criminal Investigative Division
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States ( Russia ) 
cl centiliter
cm centimeter
CNBC Consumer News and Business Channel
CNN Cable News Network
CO Commanding Officer
COD Collect on delivery
CPA Certified Public Accountant
CPO Chief Petty Officer
CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation
CREEP Committee to Re-elect the President  ( Nixon )
CRT cathode ray tube
CSA Confederate States of America ( made war on the US, some still fly their treasonous flag )
CST Central Standard Time
CV Curriculum Vitae --"course of life ",  professional experience and education , as on a resume
CYO Catholic Youth Organization
D 500 ( Roman numerals )
D  poor ( school grade )
D Day   June 6,1944--allied landing on French beaches ( WW II )
DA District Attroney
DAR Daughters of the American Revolution
DBA doing business as ( legal right to use business name )
DC District of Columbia
DC direct current ( electricity from a battery )
DD Doctor of Divinity
DD Dunkin Donuts
DDS Doctor of Dental Surgery
DDT a pesticide--dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
DEA Drug Enforcement Agency ( US govt. )
DHS Department of Human Services
DL driver's license
DMV Department of Motor Vehicles
DMZ demilitarized zone ( Korean War or Vietnam War )
DNA human genetic material-- deoxyribonucleic acid
DNC Democratic National Committee
DO Doctor of Osteopathy
DOA dead on arrival
DOG Department of Graves ( military dog tag )
DOT Department of Transportation
DPA Department of Public Assistance ( state or county govt. )
DPT diphtheria pertussis tetanus
DSC Distinguished Service Cross ( military ) 
DT's delirium tremens
DUI driving under the influence
DVD digital videodisc
DVM Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
DWI driving while intoxicated
E east ( a direction, or part of an address )
E empty ( gas gauge )
EBT  Electronic Benefits Transfer
EDT Eastern Daylight Time 
EEC European Economic Community
EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ( US govt. )
EEG electroencephalogram
EIK eat-in kitchen
EKG electrocardiogram
EMT Emergency Medical Technician ( ambulance )
EOE Equal Opportunity Employer
ER Emergency Room ( hospital )
ERA Equal Rights Amendment
ERA earned run average
ESL English as a second language
EST Eastern Standard Time
ETA estimated time of arrival
ETD estimated time of departure
ETO European Theater of Operations ( WW II )
ETS Educational Testing Service
EU European Union
F Fahrenheit ( temperature )
F full ( gas gauge )
F failure ( school grade )
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation ( US govt. )
FAA Federal Aviation Administration ( US govt. )
FAT Firearms. Alcohol, and Tobacco
FCC Federal Communications Commission
FDA Food and Drug Administration ( US govt. )
FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( US govt. )
FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( former US President )
FM frequency modulation ( radio band )
FOB free on board ( wholesale shipping costs )
FOP Fraternal Order of Police
FP fire place
FPO Fleet Post Office ( military )
FT full time ( work )
FTD Florist's Transworld Delivery
G general audience ( movie )
G  1,000 ( money )
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GED General Equivalency Diploma/General Educational Development
GI government issue
GM General Motors
GM general manager
GMO genetically modified organisms
GNP Gross National Product
GOP Grand Old Party ( republicans )
GPA grade point average
GPS global positioning system
GRE Graduate Record Exam
GSA Girl Scouts of America
GSA General Services Administration ( US govt. )
GWTW Gone with the Wind
H hot ( faucet )
HD high definition
HEW Health, Education and Welfare ( now Dept. of Education and Dept. of Health and Human Services )
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( same as AIDS )
HMS Her Majesty's Ship
HP horsepower
HR Human Resources 
HR homeroom ( secondary school )
HRM Her/His Royal Majesty
HS high school
HS Human Services
HUAC House Un-American Activities Committee ( historical ) 
I one/1 ( Roman numerals or American titles/outlines )
I incomplete ( school grade )
IBM International Business Machines
ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ( military )  
ICU intensive care unit
ID identification
IHS  in hoc signo by this sign
IHM Immaculate Heart of Mary
IM instant message or instant messaging
INRI   Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm --Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
INS Immigration and Naturalization Service ( US govt. ) 
IOC International Olympic Committee
IP Internet Protocol
IPO initial public offering ( of stock )
IQ intelligence quotient
IRA Individual Retirement Account
IRA Irish Republican Army, in modern times a secret outlaw paramilitary group, named for a historic group
IRS Internal Revenue Service ( US govt. )
ISBN International Standard Book Number
ISP Internet Service Provider
IT Information Technology ( computer specialist ) 
IT&T International Telephone and Telegraph
JAG Judge Advocate General ( military )
JC Jesus Christ
JD Juris Doctor ( advanced law degree )
JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy ( former US President )
JG Junior Grade ( army officer )
JHS Junior High School
JV junior varsity ( secondary school sports ) 
K-9   Canine Corps ( police dogs )
KG kilograms
KGB Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti --former Russian national police
KKK Ku Klux Klan  ( an organized race-based criminal organization ) 
KM kilometers
KO knock out ( boxing )
KP kitchen police or patrol ( military )
L 50 ( Roman numerals )
L large ( clothing size )
L  long ( pants length )
L left ( direction )
LCB Liquor Control Board ( state government )
LCD liquid crystal display
LM Lunar Module ( Apollo mission to the moon )
LEM Lunar Excursion Module( Apollo mission to the moon )
L and I Licenses and Inspections ( city government )
L and K love and kisses
LP long-playing ( a 33 1/3  RPM vinyl record )
LPN Licensed Practical Nurse
LSAT Law School Admission Test
LSD lysergic acid
LSMFT  "Lucky Strike Mighty Fine Tobacco" ?
LST Landing Ship-Tank ( WW II )
M 1,000 ( Roman numerals )
M medium ( clothing size ) 
MA Master of Arts
MBA Master of Business Administration
MD Doctor of Medicine/Medical Doctor
MDT Mountain Daylight Time
ME Medical Examiner
MFA Master of Fine Arts
mg milligram
ml milliliters
MLA Modern Language Association
M&M  Mars and Murrie ( candy makers )
mm millimeters
MMR measles mumps rubella
MP Military Police ( military )
MPG miles per gallon
MPH miles per hour
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MS Master of Science
MS Multiple Sclerosis
MS Middle School
MST Mountain Standard Time
MV Motor Vessel ( ship )
MWF Monday Wednesday Friday ( secondary school or college )
N north ( a direction, or part of an address )
NA North America
n/a not applicable
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NARC National Association for Retarded Citizens
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( US govt. )
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NBA National Basketball Association
NBC National Broadcasting Company
NCAA National College Athletic Association
NC 17 no children under 17
NCO non commissioned officer
NE northeast ( a direction, or part of an address )
NEA National Education Asscociation
NEA National Endowment for the Arts ( US govt. )
NFL National Football League
NGO Non-governmental organization
NHL National Hockey League
NIH National Institutes of Health ( US govt. )
NIMBY not in my back yard
NOW National Organization for Women
NPR National Public Radio
NRA National Rifle Association
NRA National Recovery Administration ( 1930's US govt. )
NSA  National Security Administration
NTE  National Teacher's Exam
NW northwest ( a direction, or part of an address )
NYSE New York Stock Exchange
O operator ( old telephone company, to reach a person )
O a blood type
O outstanding ( school grade )
OAS Organization of American States
OC  Ocean City  ( NJ or MD )
OCD Obsessesive-compulsive Disorder
OD overdose
OD Doctor of Optometry ( eye doctor )
OD Officer of the Day ( military )
OK okay--fine, good enough
OMB Office of Management and Budget ( US govt. )
OMG oh my G--!
OOAK one of a kind
OR operating room ( hospital )
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( US govt. )
OS Operating System 
OSS Office of Strategic Services ( WWII forerunner of CIA )
OT overtime ( employment )
OTC over the counter ( non-prescription drugs or stocks and bonds )
P petite ( clothing size )
P pass ( school grade )
PAC political action committee
PAL Police Athletic League
PB & J peanut butter and jelly
PBS Public Broadcasting System
PC personal computer ( desktop or laptop )
PCP phencyclidine/phenylcyclohexylpiperidine, angel dust, an illegal drug once used by veterinarians
PD police department 
PDQ pretty darned quick
PDT Pacific Daylight Time
P/F pass/fail ( school, instead of a letter grade )
PFC Private First Class
PG parental guidance
Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy
PJ's pajamas 
PM post meridiem afternoon or evening ( from noon to midnight )
PMS premenstrual syndrome
POP point of purchase
POS point of sale
PPD purified protein derivative ( tuberculosis test )
PRN  pro re nata as the need arises ( prescription medicine )
psi pounds per square inch
PST Pacific Standard Time
PT part time ( work )
PTA Parent Teacher Association
PTO paid time off
PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( formerly combat fatigue or shell shock ) 
PX post exchange ( store on a military base, commissary ) 
Q and A questions and answers
QV qui vive on the alert, a sentry's challenge to someone approaching
R restricted ( movie )
R right ( direction )
RA Resident Advisor ( college )
RA rheumatoid arthritis
RAM random-access memory
RBI runs batted in
RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police
R and D research and development
RDA recommended daily ( or dietary ) allowance ( vitamins )
RFD Rural Free Delivery ( US govt. )
RFK Robert Francis Kennedy ( former Attorney General, ran for US president, assassinated )
RIP Rest in Peace or Requiescat in pace ( on a tombstone )
RKO Radio-Keith-Orpheum  ( movie producing company )
RN Registered Nurse
RNA human genetic material --ribonucleic acid
RNC Republican National Committee
ROK Republic of Korea
ROM read only memory
RPM revolutions per minute
RR railroad
R and R rest and relaxation ( military ) 
RSVP repondez s'il vous plait ( please respond )
S small ( clothing size )
S short ( pants length )
S south ( a direction, or part of an address )
S satisfactory ( school grade )
SA South America
SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test
SBA Small Business Administration  ( US govt. )
SE southeast ( a direction, or part of an address )
SEATO South East Asian Treaty Organization
SEC Securities and Exchange Commission ( US govt. )
SEO Search engine optimization
SJ Society of Jesus ( Jesuits )
SNAFU situation normal all fouled up?
SOS "Save our Ship", a distress call using Morse code
SP Shore Patrol ( US military ) 
SPCA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
SPF sun protection factor
SRO standing room only ( theater )
SS Sailing Ship
SS Schutz-Staffel   Defense Corps ( WWII German/Nazi  police/military unit )
SSA Social Security Administration ( US govt. )
SSN Social Security number
SSS Selective Service System ( US govt. )
SST supersonic transport
STD sexually transmitted disease
SW southwest ( a direction, or part of an address )
SWAK sealed with a kiss
TA teaching assistant ( college )
TB tuberculosis
TBA to be announced
TBD to be determined
TD touchdown ( football )
TDD telecommunications device for the deaf
T or F true or false ( secondary school test question ) 
TGIF thank God it's Friday
THC tetrahydrocannabinol ( marijuana )
tid  ter in die three times a day ( medicine ) 
TLC tender loving care
TNT an explosive--trinitrotoluene
TOFL Test of English as a Foreign Language
TP toilet paper
TR Tuesday and Thursday ( college or secondary school )
TR Teddy Roosevelt
TSOP The Sound of Philadelphia
TTFN tata for now ( good-by for now ) 
TTY teletypewriter 
TV television
TWA Trans World Airlines
TWTWTW  This Was the Week that Was ( old news show )
U unsatisfactory ( school grade )
UAW United Auto Workers
UFO unidentified flying object 
UHF ultra-high frequency ( TV ) 
UMW United Mine Workers
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNCF  United Negro College Fund
UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
UPC Universal Product Code
UPI United Press International
UPS United Parcel Service
US United States ( of America ) 
USA United States of America
USA United States Army ( US military )
USAF United States Air Force ( US military )
USB universal serial bus ( computer connection ) 
USCG United States Coast Guard ( US military )
USDA United States Department of Agriculture ( US govt. )
USMA United States Military Academy 
USMC United States Marine Corps( US military )
USN United States Navy ( US military  )
USNA United States Naval Academy
USPS United States Postal Service ( US govt. )
USS United States Ship ( US military )
USSR union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( CCCP in Russian, now the CIS ) 
UV ultra violet
V five/5( Roman numerals )
V victory
VA Veterans Administration ( US govt. )
VAT value added tax
VC Viet Cong ( Vietnam War ) 
VCR videocassette recorder
VD venereal disease
VHF very high frequency ( TV) 
VIP very important person
VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars
VSOP very special old pale
W  west ( a direction, or part of an address )
W withdrawal ( school grade )
WAC Women's Army Corps ( US military )
WBA World Boxing Association
WBA Women's Basketball Association
WC water closet ( bathroom )
W+D or W/D washer and dryer
WHO World Health Organization
WTF what the f---?
WW I World War I ( one )
WW II World War II ( two )
WWJD? What would Jesus do?
WWW world wide web
X ten/10 ( Roman numerals )
XL extra large ( clothing size )
XL 40 ( Roman numerals )
XO extra old
XOXO hugs and kisses
XS extra small ( clothing size )
XX poison 
XXX pornography
YMCA Young Men's Christian Association
YMHA Young Men's Hebrew Association
These may be batteries--
A
AA
AAA
C
D
These may be shoe widths--
A
AA
B
C
D
E
EE
EEE
These may be school grades--
A
B
C
D
F
These may be musical notes--
E
G
B
D
F
F
A
C
E
These may be blood types--
A
B
AB
O ( letter O )
These may be bra cup sizes--
A
B
C
D
These may be vacuum cleaner bag types--
A
AA
B
BB
BP
C
D
E
F
F&G
G
H
J
K
L
M
MM
N
OX
Q
R
S
SL
SR
T
U
UB
V
Y
Z