: Re: Should I use acronyms in dialogues before telling the readers what it stands for in fiction? There are occasions where you basically just start a chapter with a short descriptive passage and

@Eichhorn147

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Ben Aaronovitch in his Rivers of London series often introduces an acronym without explaining it. Generally, the protagonist will introduce the acronym in his role as the narrator. Then he'll use that acronym with another character who won't understand it. Only then does he explain to that character, and therefore also to the audience, what the acronym means.

The stories are mostly set in London which has a history of unique and confusing speech patterns (think Cockney Rhyming Slang). Using language that others don't understand is a type of power and indicates which groups the characters do and don't belong to. Group A understands this set of language, group B understands that set of language, etc.

As the reader, when this happens you feel temporarily out of the loop, which I believe allows you to empathise with more than just the protagonist. He does also go on a lot of relevant short tangents, e.g. recounting part a of prior conversation to the audience during a current conversation. It's a very colloquial, informal, contemporary style which works for this series of books, but would be entirely unsuitable for other stories.

Don't leave the reader hanging too long. A short time between introducing a word/acronym/concept and explaining it is acceptable and engages the audience if not overdone. If done well, you certainly don't need to explain it straightaway.

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