During the last election, the voters in Iowa passed an amendment to their constitution that struck certain language from the Constitution. The clause banning an “idiot or insane person” from voting was removed. Which is a good thing. Since it allowed the Iowa legislature to pass a change to a department name in their government.
Lawmakers in Iowa on Wednesday raised some eyebrows when they voted to rename a department that deals with seniors, allowing it to carry the acronym DOA.
DOA is a term that stands for dead-on-arrival.
“You can’t have an acronym like this when you’re referring to elderly people,” Rep. Dave Heaton, 68, said after both houses of the legislature voted to change the name of the Department of Elder Affairs to the Department on Ageing (DOA).
I once attended a department reorganizational meeting where changes to the engineering department I worked in were announced. In order to respond to plant operational concerns faster, the powers that be signed off on creating a group who would have the sole responsibility for meeting emergent problems.
They – and I am completely serious – stood at the front of the room and announced the Fast Action Response Team. They figured out that they had made a mistake about one second after revealing the overhead for that one.
(I blame the slow response on an early meeting and not enough coffee.)
And yes, they changed the name to the Rapid Response Team. But they were still routinely called by the original acronym when I left that company.
In the late ’50s my Father, working with a very large insurance company, had samples of a new form land on his desk. He never did tell me what the initials were, but the company scrapped what today would be about $250,000 worth of printed material. Had this happen twice with companies I worked for – at about $50,000 each time. Ah, good old Sam Houston Institute of Technology. Your turn!
Hmmmm….I just got a request in the mail for a donation. The organization is the Friends of Aging Retired Teachers. The contribution (which must be in small, unmarked bills) should be sent to 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL 60613.
Do you think they stole the acronym? And should I contribute?
When I worked near Third and Folsom Streets in San Francisco, I was always amused to look out and see The Fairoaks Area Rapid Transit buses.
For years my fictional detective, J. P. Beaumont, has worked for a fictional Special Homicide Investigation Team. You do the acronym. That’s good for a running joke in each book.
Oh, and there is a sign on top of a building near Kansas City that reads:
Friends University of Central Kansas
I remember back in the 80s, two small colleges in Iowa, Northern Iowa Tech and Western Iowa Tech, explored merger. The working name of the proposed merged school was NIT-WIT. How would you like being a graduate and having THAT on your resume?