Say WHAT??

Do you ever talk about your toys with an "outsider"? You know, a friend or spouse who couldn't care one bit less about your cars? But you need someone to talk to, so you do it anyway...... Do they understand you? Really understand you?

Let's look at some of "our" words and acronyms. Things like MOC, RL, HW, MB, JL, MM, RLC, HWC, BW, HO5, RR, Y5, TRU, KB, etc. You get the picture. I'm in the Air Force, and we military folks live and breathe acronym's. I'll bet a lot of you do as well in your workplace. Did you ever sit in a meeting and hear an acronym, and instead of relating it to work, you thought of something about Diecast cars. C'mon, be honest, I'll bet you have.....

But our language includes a lot more than acronyms. We have our own words, some of which are unique to car collecting, some are unique to collecting in general, but the really fun ones are the words that have completely different meanings when used in a conversation between a group of toy nuts. Words like blister, mint, scalper, dealer, pegs, hunt, etc. How many times have you been in a conversation with someone when suddenly your brain shifts into a different direction because a word is used. After all, when was the last time you used to word "mint" to describe something edible? Let's see this in action:

Bob: Hi John, did you watch the game last night?

John: Sure did, it was one of the best games of the year.

Bob: Do you think the catcher got a blister from all those pitches?

John: (who's brain slides into toy mode at the word "blister") No Bob, I haven't picked up any cars all week.

See what I mean? Sure you do. It happens to all of us. And even when we try really hard to separate our real lives from our toy lives, something will be mentioned in a real life conversation that's sends us right back into the toy life. Makes for some pretty strange looks from friends and family.

Now don't think I'm saying it's incorrect to have our own language. Far from it. In fact, it's a great thing to have. We can talk to our friends in the hobby and know exactly what the other means when spewing out a few acronyms and contractions that only we know. Every collector who reads the following line of text should know exactly what I'm saying:

Yesterday I picked up a MOMC RL T42 that was buried on the peg at TRU.

To see what that statement means to a non-collector, here's a line of text that relates to my job:

Yesterday the FCP CDI and ADI on 38 0096 went OOV TO+2.

Ok, so what did I say? Here's the long version:

Yesterday the front cockpit course deviation indicator and attitude director indicator on T-38 aircraft tail number 0096 went out of view at take-off plus 2 minutes.

Language is a binder. It identifies a nation, state, province, city, even a smaller group. Learn all you can about our language. It enhances your collecting experience, gives you a sense of belonging to the group, and is a heckuva lot of fun when you used properly. Especially when the "outsiders" are listening in.......

--Joe