Comment by nobody9999

>Does dq mean dequeue? Ironically, Grammarly would automatically expand your in-house abbreviations to make your writing more clear.

I thought it meant "Dairy Queen[0]." Yummy[1], yummy Dairy Queen!

Using shortened/abbreviated forms without explanation is a recipe for misunderstanding.

Generally, writing out whatever will be abbreviated/shortened and noting the abbreviation/shortening is preferred, as it removes the ambiguity of just using an abbreviation.

For example, If I say that I'm going to "The Met," that could mean I'm going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art[2], the Metropolitan Opera[3] or The Metropolitan Police[4]. Which institution is implied may be clear from the context, but could be confusing.

Many years ago, I shared a taxi with a couple on my way to work at American Express. When I said I was going to "Amex," they assumed I was going to the American Stock Exchange and since their offices were quite close to that organization's offices, we decided to travel together.

Fortunately, the offices of American Express and the American Stock Exchange were both in the World Financial Center[5] (albeit at opposite ends), there wasn't an issue.

That said, clearly identifying shortened forms is extremely important, especially in writing, as you can't correct a reader's assumptions as to what you're going on about.

This applies to "dq" above, as well as many other acronyms and abbreviations. This article[6] discusses the issue at some length:

   Most abbreviations do require a definition. In
   any case where readers might be confused by TLAs 
   three letter abbreviations), it's important that 
   they be defined in the text or in a Table of 
   Abbreviations. A research proposal or article 
   with complicated and confusing abbreviations is 
   one that will quickly face rejection. The problem 
   is that authors become so familiar with 
   abbreviations that they forget to define them.

And since I (or anyone else) can't know what's in your mind unless you tell me, I may take an abbreviation[6] to mean something (like Dairy Queen) that the writer didn't intend.

[0] https://www.dairyqueen.com

[1] https://www.dairyqueen.com/en-us/menu/treats/classic-treats/

[2] https://www.metmuseum.org/

[3] https://www.metopera.org/

[4] https://www.met.police.uk/

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookfield_Place_(New_York_Cit...

[6] I'm using "abbreviations" here to mean abbreviations (e.g., Amex for American Express), acronyms (e.g. NAFTA for North Amerian Free Trade Agreement) and initialisms (e.g., TCP for Transmission Control Protocol, FBI for Federal Bureau of Investigation).