[Magdalen] TECnical question

Jay Weigel jay.weigel at gmail.com
Mon May 4 14:39:47 UTC 2015


I've never heard it spoken. It's only used in writing. It used to be ECUSA,
and that was never spoken either. I think that was dropped because our
version of the church also includes the Church in some other areas that are
not the US proper.

Is it really something to get one's knickers in a major knot over? That
makes sitting down uncomfortable.

On Mon, May 4, 2015 at 9:44 AM, Ferdinand von Prondzynski (sms) <
f.von-prondzynski at rgu.ac.uk> wrote:

> Jim Guthrie wrote:
>
> >I think it's better than the historic acronym -- PE or PEC as in
> >"Protestant
> >Episcopal Church." So there's certainly historical precedent.  And the
> >acronym
> >is rarely -- if ever -- used by non TEC people  or in news items or other
> >communications meant for general public consumption.
>
> I guess I need to try to explain why I find it wholly irritating - as I
> do. I must say that in this, as in so many other things, I really
> appreciate the approach of Anglicans Online.
>
> First, I dislike acronyms more generally. Acronyms are, amongst other
> things, a way of sustaining a protected community of insiders, who have
> the advantage over those who stumble upon their conversations and have no
> idea what they are talking about. Universities are amongst the very very
> worst offenders - I wrote about that once, here:
>
> universitydiary.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/linguistic-fog-in-the-academy/
>
> Churches are beginning to get into this game, and as far as I can tell the
> US Episcopal Church is amongst the more serious offenders. My strong
> advice is to stop it.
>
> Secondly, I particularly dislike THIS acronym. What are you supposed to
> say in speech? "Teck”? Does that sound like a church? Absolutely not.
> We’re only a minute away from US episcopalians calling themselves Teckies,
> I suspect. It is not only an unattractive acronym, it’s a very non-church
> one.
>
> Thirdly, the acronym has a vaguely annoying implication for non-Americans,
> and maybe for Scots in particular. The US Episcopal Church is not THE
> Episcopal Church, it is AN Episcopal Church. The acronym suggests a degree
> of disinterest in, or a claim of superiority over, wider Anglicanism.
>
> There, I’ve got all of that off my chest. As ever, my apologies for
> causing any offence.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Ferdinand
>
>
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