----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Heuch
To: UK Tree Care
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2010 6:21 AM
Subject: Re: ALMO tree stock
SC From this side of the pond it appears that government is also a victim
of the general UK penchant for abbreviations and acronyms :)
JH the UK government is not alone - all bureaucracies, cabals and
professions use acronyms and
jargon. They're great means of improving communication to those that know
and ruining communication
to everybody else!
SC They are great for clear speaking and writing when they are spelt out in
the first instance or are so widely known everyone is presumed to have gotten
the first instance. In US most folks know that BLT on the menu is a Bacon,
Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. We arbs all know what GIS and GPS are. The
problem is when going outside the cabal.
JH As for ALMO's I guess they have similar tendencies to QUANGOs and the
various agencies set up at
"arm's length" to government. They tend to be excuses to increase senior
staff pay and perks (thus
providing great incentives to go in this direction) and reduce pay and
perks and everybody else.
Competition is what they call it.
JH Having done a number of surveys for what may be ALMOs (I had never heard
of the term either), PFIs,
PPPs and similar acronymic oganisations
SC Actually, it was pointed out to me recently that an acronym is an
abbreviation that is a pronounceable word. ALSO (Amenity, Landscape, Shade &
Ornamental trees) happens to be a word; "well all you foresters, ALSO trees
are also trees, trees are not just for wood products." I'm not sure about
QUANGO (Quasi-Non-Government Organization), it's pronouncable but is it a
word? PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and GPS (Global Positioning
System) are clearly just abbreviations, they are neither pronouncable nor
words.
JH it seemed to me that "trees" had been bundled into the
general landscape conditions, and "trees" had been left to last. Unless
there were clear guidelines
with preferably financial incentives to support desirable outcomes there
was no long term vision for
tree management.
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