The short of it
Full names are so yesterday. That's why I'm announcing that starting today, I will be known simply as "A." It's short for Al, and shorter for Alan, the name my parents bestowed upon me oh so many years ago.
Why am I lopping off letters? I'm just following the trend. You may have heard about it. Welcome to the "Y" and "NPR," two organizations that for years have gone by their longer, almost-formal names.
Yes, the Y, formerly known as the YMCA, and formerly formerly known as the Young Men's Christian Association and formed in 1844, announced its single-character moniker earlier this week. I guess Y fits better in tweets.
Visit the Y site:
http://www.ymca.net/
Read a story about the Y name change:
http://bit.ly/cJhdWX
My friends at National Public Radio also announced a formal name change to "NPR" last week. They say the name change reflects that the network does so much more than radio these days, which I must agree with. Who would have guessed that one of the better photo features on the Web belongs to the npr.org site, with their Picture Show Blog (http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/)?
Read a story about the NPR name change:
http://bit.ly/aZy5aS
The Y and NPR didn't start this trend, they're just the latest to jump on board. Think back to AT&T and KFC. Your folks knew them as American Telephone and Telegraph (what's a telegraph, you ask?) and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
More recently, Gatorade went the single-letter route, with at least some of its product line, and is branding itself "G." Hey, that's the first initial of my last name! Think I should go with A.G.? Then, if I were magically attorney general, I could be A.G. A.G.
And, just imagine, if I knew an elevator-industry ombudsman named Evan Ives, he could be E.I. E.I.O. If those elevators carried grain, he could work for Old McDonald’s agricultural conglomerate.
