<p>Title says it all</p>
I’ve always wondered this too!
Just because it is easier and more convenient.
easier and more convenient? how lazy can people get? daughter is a word you learn to spell and write in like 1st grade and it’s more than simple enough word to type all the way out… same with “son”. if you’re using S to abbreviate for son, dude sorry but get off the Internet. first of all, you’re saving maybe .003 seconds. wow such a convenience right? no ***. secondly, you sound like you’re referring to your children as objects or robots and not humans. I’ll never understand these people…
These are standard Internet abbreviations that are practiced by many on all message boards (not only CC) and blogs and is explained on this web page:
<a href=“http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/d/f/whatisDD.htm[/url]”>http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/d/f/whatisDD.htm</a>
The same reason we use S, H, etc. It is an abbreviation, a shorthand. Because so many posts include information about a relative, it is just WAY easier to not type the whole word. Eight letters vs. one, and everyone out here knows what you mean.
I think it may have to with talking about a child (albeit anonymously) in a public space. Typing a “D” ameliorates this a bit perhaps? This has occurred to me as I write “S”, although I rarely do, since it doesn’t seem quite right.
"how lazy can people get? "
Apparently, you’d be surprised!
BTW, scodisario, you are not the “OP”, but welcome to “cc” anyway.
I prefer to think of it as efficiency rather than laziness. 
Which explains quite a bit.
welcome to CC.
OMG, someone is complaining about the use of D and S on CC? LOL.
BTW, IRL people use abbreviations all the time. Ever hear of IQ, GPA, ACT, NFL, NBA, NCAA, MLB, BMW, VW, IRS, FBI, CIA, UN, UK, and USA? JK. LOL.
scodesario, I’ve noted the following abbreviations you’ve used during your brief time on CC:
GPA, avg, ACT, stats, UC, UCB, UCLA, UCSF, admits, “top ranked U.,” @username, ECs, CSF, a-g, CR, MIT, SAT, AP, recs, Micro/Macroecon, JV, hr, &, SLO, CC, XC, 24/7, TLDR, ASAP, NHS, lol.
So as you can see, abbreviations are used by everyone.
It may not be noticeable on the individual user or message level, but abbreviations reduce the space used by the forum on its servers, and reduces the bandwidth required to transmit messages. While forum messages are not limited in the same way, it is common the abbreviate when texting or tweeting as as well. It’s not about being lazy, but concise - use the least number of characters to get your message across.
everyone’s argument was at least somewhat plausible except conreur’s about the professional abbreviations. these are acronyms that actually shorthand multiple words into a few letters and are universal. are you really going to type out stuff like National Football League? imagine saying “Did you guys watch the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships last night?” one, you sound ignorant and pretentious because you can just say NCAA and everyone knows you’re talking about college basketball. two, it’s used in the professional world; not even sports reporters say that whole hoopla out.
so yeah, I mean I guess it’s kinda like the CC parents’ equivalent of teenagers saying “omg” in a weird, lazy, I-like-to-refer-to-my-children-as-objects kind of way. still, omg, lol, idk all roll off the tongue. D, especially DD (darling daughter) is so awkward to read.
posted this before I saw the last 2 replies.
yes, I get it. it’s all a matter of familiarity and preferences. I’ll stop talking now haha.
I once read a snippet from an article that went something like this:
“If you are so busy that you don’t even have the two seconds it takes to type the rest of that word, you need to go take care of your responsibilities. Don’t even take the time to close the browser–you need to go right now.”
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. Typing “D” and “daughter” takes basically the same amount of time
Pardon my ignorance, but what is “OP”? Is there a list about common abbreviation on “CC”?
Original poster.
My rule is to try only using abbreviations that I’d be comfortable saying out loud in a conversation to another person. I would never say my D or S, especially not DD, DS, DH, or any of the other family abbreviations. You could write any immediate family relation except daughter in three letters, how hard is that? Son, mom, dad, bro, sis. My daughter could be my girl, if you really wanted to shorten it.
It’s especially funny when a huge post opens up with “My D…” and then doesn’t use any abbreviations for the next 5 paragraphs. It may take an extra second, but you’re taking thirty minutes of your time already to write that monster, why not take the extra second to make it actual English and not internet lingo.
^AeroMike, I didn’t take time to look at all of your posts, but in your one at 9:30 am today, You used “30 mins.” Do you say “mins” instead of “minutes” in conversations? I imagine I would find more examples if I looked through all of your posts. As I said earlier, internet abbreviations are VERY common! I use them myself, even though I can type at about 110 WPM (oh, excuse me, “words per minute”).