Did you know that the Dutch have a three-letter abbreviation for the phrase "three-letter abbreviation?"  I'm totally serious!  I only know this one because of Wikipedia -- but it's dla = drieletterig afkorting = three-letter abbreviation.  And even without Wikipedia, I was well aware of the fact that the Dutch love their abbreviations.

What's crazier is that I was recently realizing how much I've come to love them, too.  At first, they drove me crazy -- like I was supposed to learn this foreign language (Dutch) and the foreign language within their language (Dutch abbreviations).  But as I've gotten used to them, I've really come to appreciate their efficiency.  Below, I've listed a number of these "dla"s which have come to be a part of my daily correspondance (along with their full meaning and their English equivalent).  Some of them have direct American/English equivalents, but most do not:

• a.s. = aanstaande = this coming (as in "this coming Thursday")
• a.u.b. = alstublieft = please
• bv. = bijvoorbeeld = for example (equivalent to American/English "e.g." or "i.e.")
• d.m.v. = door middel van = through the use of
• e.a. = en andere(n) = and other(s)
• enz. = enzovoort = et cetera (equivalent to American/English "etc.")
• i.p.v. = in plaats van = instead of
• i.v.m. = in verband met = in connection with
• m.b.t. = met betrekking tot = with regards to (roughly equivalent to American/English "re:")
• m.u.v. = met uitzondering van = with the exception of
• n.v.t. = niet van toepassing = not applicable (equivalent to American/English "NA")
• o.a. = onder anderen = among others
• t.a.v. = ter attentie van = to the attention of (equivalent to the American/English "ATTN:")
• zg. = zogenoemd = so named (roughly equivalent to the American/English "a.k.a.")

I find myself so comfortable with some of these that I've actually started internally moaning the fact that there's not an American/English equivalent for all of them!  Especially with i.p.v. and a.s.  I've even started slipping in some of these abbreviations in some of my English correspondence with people who are familiar with the Dutch abbreviations.  Weird, huh?  I'm fascinated by the way that language acquisition and assimilation works itself out, even now after eight years of being immersed in Dutch culture and language.

There's a separate category of Dutch "dla"s that are not so exceptional in that an abbreviation is used -- but more in the way that the abbreviations are used in the spoken language.  The two that most immediately come to mind are the following:

• hiv = humaan immunodeficiëntie virus = Human Immunodeficiency Virus = HIV
• soa = seksueel overdraagbare aandoening = Sexually Transmitted Disease = STD

Again, these aren't so exceptional in the way that they're abbreviated; we do exactly the same things in English.  But when an American speaks out these abbreviations, they pronounce each letter:  "Aych Eye Vee" and "Ess Tee Dee."  But in Dutch vernacular, they're pronounced just like they're spelled, as their own little words:  "Hiv" and "Soa."  Fascinating stuff... Perhaps not all that meaningful, really.  But still, fascinating to me.