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> I love SF but it's as bad as PDX these days. For those like me who hate abbreviations used out of context, PDX here refers to the Portland International Airp
by lr1970 3y ago
> I love SF but it's as bad as PDX these days.
For those like me who hate abbreviations used out of context, PDX here refers to the Portland International Airport, Oregon. I presume that the commenter really meant the city of Portland, Oregon. Why it is so hard to type extra 5 characters is beyond me.
- harambae 3y agoI assumed it was to rapidly clarify that it was Portland, Oregon and not Portland, Maine Of course Portland, OR would be quick enough to type too
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agoUsing airport codes as shorthand for their parent cities is an incredibly incredibly common convention. Well and truly established.
- lr1970 3y ago> Using airport codes as shorthand for their parent cities is an incredibly incredibly common convention. Well and truly established. Not many HN people, especially from outside of the US, can immediately recognize PDX. Besides, the commenter I was responding to used SF for San Francisco. For consistency sake they should had used SFO then. :-)
- sotix 3y agoIt’s one of those weird things we do in America. San Francisco is SF, Los Angeles is LA, San Diego is SD, San Antonio is SA, and Dallas is DFW. You might hear those said in conversation. Austin is ATX, Houston is HOU, and Portland is PDX. Those are more likely to be referenced in written text rather than said out loud. Not all of those are airport codes. I suppose it’s due to the fact that Portland is just one word, and it doesn’t contract as nicely as the other cities.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoOddly, though, you never see ORD used for Chicago. It means the airport, and only the airport. And somewhat the same with LA. LA is the city, LAX is the airport. You don't really see LAX used for the city.
- 60654 3y agoYeah, agreed. CHI, yes, sometimes. But never ORD - or MDW or GYY. Although CGX would be hilarious. :)
- noonesays 3y ago> you never see ORD used for Chicago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33277163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33277163 > I wouldn't say we always call Chicago ORD, but it definitely happens.
- CogitoCogito 3y ago> Using airport codes as shorthand for their parent cities is an incredibly incredibly common convention. Well and truly established. I've lived in San Diego, the Bay Area, and NYC for extended periods of time, but I don't think I've ever heard someone referring to those cities by their airport codes. Maybe you've lived in different parts of the country?
- defrost 3y agoIt's an incredibly common well established convention within a group of pilots, controllers, airline workers, hostesses, etc. They're a country without borders that span the globe .. and unless you're part of "the group" (be that C programmers, Ham radio operators, pilots, Code Talkers, et al.) you'll rarely hear their jargon.
- CogitoCogito 3y ago> It's an incredibly common well established convention within a group of pilots, controllers, airline workers, hostesses, etc. In other words, it's _not_ an incredibly common well established convention. Thanks for clarifying my confusion.
- defrost 3y agoWithin a group, it is. Ditto, for example, 'klick' for kilomtre in certain military and gaming circles. You might argue against "incredibly common" wrt general global population, the counter is that it's incredibly common within a globe spanning subgroup. You'd fail to make the case against "well established" unless you'd care to argue that jargon of some five+ decades isn't well established. I dare say there are conventions that you would argue are common that have near zero reach outside of the USofA .. handegg for example.
- CogitoCogito 3y agoIs this site made up of commenters from the "global spanning subgroup" you're referring to? No? Then how is that relevant? Mathematics researchers also span the globe. Would you say that "algebraic variety" is some incredibly common terminology just because it's common within a globe spanning subgroup? Anyway I think I'll bow out at this point. I'm not finding this discussion especially enlightening.
- LilBytes 3y agoIt's not immediately obvious to a non US resident what that would be so a common courtesy would be to describe what the initialism was on its first use. I wouldn't expect anyone to know what BNE (Brisbane) or DAR (Darwin) meant at first value.
- slowhadoken 3y agoCommon courtesy? Proper etiquette is to ask instead of assume and complain.
- LilBytes 3y agoI and most disagree: https://www.mcc.gov/resources/story/section-writing-guide-good-grammar https://www.mcc.gov/resources/story/section-writing-guide-go...
- slowhadoken 3y agoYou can disagree all you like, you're still being pedantic. This is an informal conversation. You can pickup on context clues or ask.
- slowhadoken 3y agoCorrect. Locals in Portland call it PDX.
- slowhadoken 3y agoYou’re in tech and you hate abbreviations? That must be rough.