Okay, I absolutely can never remember the abbreviations to the epiosodes. Oh, there are a few that I remember, but for the most part I can't remember them at all. I'm sure I'm not the only one like that. Has anyone ever listed all the abbreviations here? I did a search, but nothing came up.

Anyway, I say all this because I'm willing to do a list and post it here if anyone is interested.

I found my list at http://www.whoosh.org/epguide/lois/lois.html.

It's only the names of the episodes though--but abbreviating them all would be a snap.

Here are all the episodes listed by season. I've abbreviated (in bold) all the ones that it makes sense to abbreviate (like, I didn't abbreviate "Pilot" to "P" or anything). I did them in title caps, but it's more likely to see them in all caps.

SEASON ONE

1.01-1.02 Pilot
SV or SV(fAP) or SVFAP 1.03 Strange Visitor (from Another Planet)
NB 1.04 Neverending Battle
ILTY 1.05 I'm Looking Through You
RfaS 1.06 Requiem for a Superhero
IGaCoY 1.07 I've Got a Crush on You
SK 1.08 Smart Kids
GGGoH or TGGGoH 1.09 The Green, Green Glow of Home
MoSB or TMoSB 1.10 The Man of Steel Bars
PML 1.11 Pheromone, My Lovely
HiM 1.12 Honeymoon in Metropolis
ASU 1.13 All Shook Up
1.14 Witness
IoG 1.15 Illusions of Grandeur
IoM or TIoM 1.16 The Ides of Metropolis
1.17 Foundling
1.18 The Rival
1.19 Vatman
FH 1.20 Fly Hard
BatP 1.21 Barbarians at the Planet
HoL or THoL 1.22 The House of Luthor

SEASON TWO

ME 2.01 Madame Ex
WoS 2.02 Wall of Sound
2.03 The Source
2.04 The Prankster
CoM 2.05 Church of Metropolis
OB 2.06 Operation Blackout
TOGoM 2.07 That Old Gang of Mine
BftB or ABftB 2.08 A Bolt from the Blue
SG 2.09 Season's Greedings
2.10 Metallo
CoS 2.11 Chi of Steel
EHI or TEHI 2.12 The Eyes Have It
2.13 The Phoenix
TC 2.14 Top Copy
RotP 2.15 Return of the Prankster
LL 2.16 Lucky Leon
2.17 Resurrection
TF 2.18 Tempus Fugitive
TJO 2.19 Target: Jimmy Olsen!
IR 2.20 Individual Responsibility
WWW 2.21 Whine, Whine, Whine
AtAi 2.22 And the Answer Is...

SEASON THREE

WHaLtTA 3.01 ... We Have a Lot to Talk About
OP 3.02 Ordinary People
3.03 Contact
WIEaK 3.04 When Irish Eyes Are Killing
JSN 3.05 Just Say Noah
DToSC 3.06 Don't Tug on Superman's Cape
UW 3.07 Ultra Woman
CotOC 3.08 Chip Off the Old Clark
SM 3.09 Super Mann
VD - Or do we really want to abbreviate that one? 3.10 Virtually Destroyed
HiWtHi 3.11 Home Is Where the Hurt Is
NoS 3.12 Never on Sunday
DWCiftC or TDWCiftC 3.13 The Dad Who Came in from the Cold
TA 3.14 Tempus Anyone?
INPY 3.15 I Now Pronounce You...
DJ 3.16 Double Jeopardy
3.17 Seconds
FMN 3.18 Forget Me Not
OW 3.19 Oedipus Wrecks
IaSWAA 3.20 It's a Small World After All
TaGD 3.21 Through a Glass, Darkly
BGDF 3.22 Big Girls Don't Fly

SEASON FOUR

LotF 4.01 Lord of the Flys
BE 4.02 Battleground Earth
StGTTWNK 4.03 Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding
SM - OOPS! PROBLEM! 4.04 Soul Mates
BY 4.05 Brutal Youth
PvLL or TPvLL 4.06 The People vs. Lois Lane
DLW 4.07 Dead Lois Walking
BaCaLaC 4.08 Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark
4.09 Ghosts
StP 4.10 Stop the Presses
TtNBM 4.11 'Twas the Night Before Mxymas
LW 4.12 Lethal Weapon
SLaV 4.13 Sex, Lies and Videotape
MJD 4.14 Meet John Doe
LaC 4.15 Lois and Clarks
AKAS or AS 4.16 AKA Superman
FtaSV 4.17 Faster than a Speeding Vixen
SoaD 4.18 Shadow of a Doubt
VftP 4.19 Voice from the Past
IGYUMS 4.20 I've Got You Under My Skin
TS 4.21 Toy Story
FH or TFH 4.22 The Family Hour

Nice job!

This one is more commonly abbreviated to SLV. I'm not sure why we ignore the connector word in this title and not most of the others...

Oh yeah, we use this abbreviation all the time...

Kathy

Thanks for that, Kathy. I'd never seen the episode referred to by anything other than the full name, so I wasn't sure of the abbreviation.

hehe . . . that question was just my dirty little mind getting the best of me.

Also, we have two episodes with the abbreviation "SM." (Super Mann and Soul Mates) Any idea which is more commonly abbreviated, and which isn't?

Or why it's always been GGGOH - missing out the 'The' in the title - and yet equally always been TEHI - including it.

Guess we're just fickle.

AKA Superman is usually AKAS.
Ides of Metropolis is usually IOM.
House of Luthor is usually HOL.
A Bolt From The Blue is usually ABFTB.
The Dad Who Came in from the Cold is usually TDWCIFTC.
The People vs. Lois Lane is usually TPvLL.


Yes, we have no consistency whatsoever.


LabRat

Super Mann and Soul Mates have the same abbreviation, so what is used for these?

And what about The Phoenix or The Rival? Is the T not used? I'd think it would be TP and TR. Or is it more common to say 'The Phoenix' and 'The Rival'.

EDIT: In my list, Soul Mates has been listed as Soul Mates. The Phoenix has been listed as Phoenix. The Rival has been listed as Rival. I've also used the above abbreviations suggested by KathyM. and LabRat.

SM has always been used for both, far as I know. And, curiously, I don't recall it ever being questioned that they have the same abbreviation, until now.

I've seen TP used for The Phoenix, but also for The Prankster. While, funnily enough, I can't ever recall seeing TR used for The Rival.

LabRat

Okay, I have an aphabetical list that I also thought would be helpful. Please look it over and see if I got these right. Some seem like they could be shorter - like Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark seems like it could be BCLC rather than BACALAC. Also if an episode commonly goes by two abbreviations, let me know and I'll add it.

Some present a problem because they have the same initials. Those are Soul Mates and Super Mann - both with initials of SM ( EDIT - Soul Mates changed to Soul Mates); The Phoenix and The Prankster - both TP ( EDIT - I've listed The Phoenix and The Prankster as Phoenix and Prankster respectively); and The Source and Toy Story - both TS. ( EDIT - Changed The Source to Source)

I had these all lined up nicely so they would be easy to read, but the formatting goes away when I preview the post. I tried doing a list and that didn't work either. So I decided to use the dots. They still won't line up, so it looks kind of kooky.

EDIT: I changed Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding from STG to STGTTWNK, Soul Mates from SM to Soul Mates, The Rival from TR to Rival, The Source from TS to Source, The Phoenix has been listed as Phoenix, and The Prankster has been listed as Prankster.


ABFTB.........A Bolt from the Blue
AKAS..........AKA Superman
ASU............All Shook Up
ATAI...........And the Answer Is ...

BACALAC.....Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark
BATP..........Barbarians at the Planet
BE..............Battleground Earth
BGDF..........Big Girls Don't Fly
BY..............Brutal Youth

COM...........Church of Metropolis
Contact......Contact
COS...........Chi of Steel
COTOC.......Chip Off the Old Clark

DJ..............Double Jeopardy
DLW...........Dead Lois Walking
DTOSC........Don't Tug on Superman's Cape

FH..............Fly Hard
FMN............Forget Me Not
Foundling....Foundling
FTASV.........Faster than a Speeding Vixen

GGGOH.......The Green, Green Glow of Home
Ghosts........Ghosts

HIM............Honeymoon in Metropolis
HIWTHI.......Home Is Where the Hurt Is
HOL...........The House of Luthor

IASWAA......It's a Small World After All
IGACOY......I've Got a Crush on You
IGYUMS......I've Got You Under My Skin
ILTY...........I'm Looking Through You
IOG............Illusions of Grandeur
IOM...........The Ides of Metropolis
INPY..........I Now Pronounce You ...
IR..............Individual Responsibility

JSN...........Just Say Noah

LACS..........Lois and Clarks
LL.............Lucky Leon
LOTF.........Lord of the Flys
LW............Lethal Weapon

ME............Madam Ex
Metallo......Metallo
MJD...........Meet John Doe
MOSB........The Man of Steel Bars


NB............Neverending Battle
NOS..........Never on Sunday

OB............Operation Blackout
OP............Ordinary People
OW...........Oedipus Wrecks

Pilot........The Pilot
Phoenix....The Phoenix
PML.........Pheromone, My Lovely
Prankster..The Prankster

Resurrection..Resurrection
RFAS..........Requiem for a Superhero
Rival.........The Rival
ROTP..........Return of the Prankster

Seconds.....Seconds
SG............Season's Greedings
SK............Smart Kids
SLV...........Sex, Lies and Videotape
SM............Super Mann
SOAD........Shadow of a Doubt
Soul Mates...Soul Mates
STGTTWNK....Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding
Source....... The Source
STP...........Stop the Presses
SV............Strange Visitor

TA............Tempus Anyone?
TAGD........Through a Glass, Darkly
TC............Top Copy
TDWCIFTC.The Dad Who Came in from the Cold
TEHI.........The Eyes Have It
TF............Tempus Fugitive
TFH..........The Family Hour
TJO..........Target: Jimmy Olsen!
TOGOM.....That Old Gang of Mine
TPVLL.......The People vs. Lois Lane
TS............Toy Story
TTNBM......'Twas the Night Before Mxymas

UW...........Ultra Woman

Vatman.....Vatman
VD............Virtually Destroyed
VFTP.........Voice from the Past

WHALTTA.... ...We Have a Lot to Talk About
WIEAK.........When Irish Eyes Are Killing
Witness.......Witness
WOS............Wall of Sound
W.W.W........Whine, Whine, Whine

I had to put periods between Whine, Whine, Whine, because apparently the abbreviation is code and makes it read as a URL. :p

Thank you Nancy! This is so helpful.

Thank you. I'm going to take Darcy's suggestion and post them beside my computer.

Maybe this thread could be stickied?

Well, the only problem I can see with Nancy's list is that many of the abbreviations are new to us old timers.

Which means we either try and get used to an entire batch of new abbreviations and out of the habit of using the ones we always have in the past...or FoLCs will be using two completely separate sets of abbreviations.

Perhaps it would be an idea to co-ordinate and try and get a definitive set, that we can all - old FoLCs and new - adapt to? Old habits are hard to get out of. For example, because I've been so used to seeing AKAS for AKA Superman for so many years, AS just doesn't mean anything to me. It'd probably take me a few years more before I wouldn't be scratching my head, going 'Huh?' when I saw it and taking several hours to figure out what it stood for.

So, while I understand it's tempting to shave those abbreviations down and make them sleeker, it might be an idea just to stick with the abbreviations we've known and loved all these years. Not because they're the best abbreviations you can get, but simply because it's what those of us who've been around a while are used to and know and as the fresh blood <g> haven't been used to anything what we use won't make any difference to them.

Or...maybe change is good and the rest of us will just have to adapt. Slowly.

Discuss.


LabRat

I think AKAS makes more sense than just AS.

A coordination would be fine, LabRat. I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't know these abbreviations. It drives me crazy when I see them on the boards. That's why I wanted to do this. I think the old ones are just fine - just tell me what they are, and I'll change them.

I changed AKA Superman to AKAS, and The Ides of Metropolis to IOM. What others need to be changed?

I've chosen to use all capital letters because I've seen it both ways, and well, I just think it looks prettier.

Some of the ones that start with 'The' use the inital 'T'. Others don't. So what about those (ie: The Rival and The Source)? Which ones are not abbreviated? Are some of the one word titles abbreviated? Then of course there are the ones that have the same initials that I previously mentioned. (Soul Mates and Super Mann - both with initials of SM; The Phoenix and The Prankster - both TP; and The Source and Toy Story - both TS. )

EDIT: The Rival has been listed as Rival, The Source has been listed as Source leaving TS for Toy Story, Soul Mates has been listed as Soul Mates leaving SM to mean Super Mann, The Phoenix has been listed as Phoenix, The Prankster has been listed as Prankster,


Yes, I do think we should work together on this, so what do you guys think? Then maybe when we get this all figured out, we could sticky it - or sticky a new one that's a little cleaner.

Nancy

Come on guys, if you don't tell me (or Darcy) what the usual abbreviations are then I can't fix the list so that it's easily recognized.

By the way, this thread was originally under 'Fanfic related', but it was moved. Since these abbreviation are often referred to in fanfic and fanfic feedback, I wonder if this would have gotten more responses there? Yes, it does make more sense to have it under 'Lois and Clark', but I'm not convinced as many folks lurk near the bottom of the screen. I've started a 'companion' thread there to point to this one.

Nancy

Howdy,

Just to pick a couple out, I'm not sure I've ever seen Madam X abbreviated?

STGTTWAK - I know it seems long LOL, but for Swear to God, I've seen just as many people write out the whole abbreviation.

Usually if the title's only two words, like The Rival or...The Phoenix just to pull out a couple, *usually* the title is just written out. (Of course, exceptions that come to mind are VD and UW which I've seen before).

But of course I'm also dumping rules on something that never had any real organization. When I started reading, I just tagged onto, ok how's everyone else doing it?

Jen

Soulmates is usually just said in its full form (SM is for SuperMann) Same with Rival, Source, Phoenix, and Prankster (usually the "the" is left off).

I've always referred to the episode Lois and Clarks as LACS... maybe to differentiate it from the show's title. Anyone else do this?

I always see Madame Ex referred to as ME. Am I alone there?

And yes, Lois and Clarks is usually referred to as LACs.

Funny, I know all these by heart but I don't have the patience to make a list LOL ... so thanks for doing that.

EDIT: I changed Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding from STG to STGTTWNK, Soul Mates from SM to Soul Mates, The Rival from TR to Rival, The Source from TS to Source, The Phoenix from TP to Phoenix, and The Prankster from TP to Prankster.


Hey, SuperGem, if you know all these by heart, do any others need to be changed?

I will change LAC to LACS. Madame X seems to have two different spellings: Madame X and Madame Ex. What's the consensus??

My list says "Madame Ex," which I just took to be a play on "Madam X," since Arianna is Lex's Ex.

The script says Madame Ex so I'll change it to ME.

They all look good, the only other thing I notice is the Family Hour - I usually see this as FH, without the T. Not sure what others think about that, but I usually see it just listed as FH.

And I think STGTTWNK has a typo, at least I'm guessing that's all it is - you have an N where the T is supposed to be.

Otherwise, I think they all look about right. A handy list to have, no doubt. Thanks!

No, the N is right. The episode is called Swear To God, This Time We're Not Kidding. Don't know where the extra T would come from.

But she is right - there's a typo in the abbreviation. There's an H instead of the 3rd T.

Um, that's what I meant. Read my post again LOL. Sorry if I typed N instead of H, but that's what I meant to say.

Ooops.. Fixed the typo.

Okay, if The Family Hour is usually FH (that's what I've seen most often, too) that puts it in conflict with Fly Hard. Is it usually spelled out?

Not sure, I always just take the acronyms in context I guess. As long as I know what the person is referring to, I can almost always match it to the episode - and Fly Hard and Family Hour are two very different episodes. They don't get mixed up that often to be honest, in fact I've rarely seen any issues with that. But I see what you mean.

If this looks good now, can we sticky it?