Punctuation Fail?

[gnomi]

For the most part, I am a fan of the lack of periods in initialisms/acronyms. I think NBA looks better than N.B.A., for example. But sometimes it can lead to confusion, such as in this headline I just found:

WHO RAISES PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL

That right there is a good question.

Comments

[farwing.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I'm just sitting here wondering what Pete Townshend has to do with any of this...

[thespisgeoff.livejournal.com]

or Dr. Seuss characters. Or any number of British actors.

[farwing.livejournal.com]

Well, Horton Hears a H1N1 just didn't have the right ring to it, so Dr. Seuss went with the more zippy title.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

hee! they forgot a question mark! at least, that was my strong first reaction. really strong. so strong it outweighed the "could use periods there" thought (echoing yours) that followed after rereading.

[docorion.livejournal.com]

I don't know.

(chorus goes here...)

THIRD BASE!

[buxom-bey.livejournal.com]

*shakes head*

[cafemusique.livejournal.com]

I like the version I've seen some places where the initialism/acronym gets small caps. Would be less ambiguous and I think that (proper) small caps are underused.

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

Doctor, is that you?

[perpet.livejournal.com]

I was not aware rock bands were allowed that much power. Or is that the name of their new album?

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

...and where were they on the night of April 21?

[moneypenny.livejournal.com]

OK, it was me. Damn your probing questions!