Hooray! 'SOA' voted most 'confusing acronym of the year'

I guess Mrs. Pedrick, my eighth-grade English teacher, would not be happy to hear that I regularly discuss and promote and disseminate the world's most confusing acronym.

But alas, 'SOA' has made the top of this year's list from the Global Language Monitor. Not just the top ten list, mind you, but in its own special category, along with the top ten most confusing tech words.

"IBM had to write a book to explain it?" they ask. (Yes, in fact, IBM has actually issued several books on SOA, as well as many others, from ZapThink to Hurwitz to Thomas Erl have written books to try and explain it.)

If only the GLM editors had read this blog, then they would have been tuned into the debate of whether 'SOA' is actually now a word in its own right, and no longer simply an acronym. Then, perhaps it would have made GLM's "Top 10 Most Confusing (yet widely used) High Tech Buzzwords for 2007." That list is topped by "iPod," "Flash," and "Nano."

GLM also produced an easy-listening video to announce their Top Ten+1 choices.

And just for the record, I would have put REST (Representational State Transfer) up there as the most confusing acronym. It sounds like something sneaky Congress does to move tax dollars around where they aren't supposed to go. Mrs. Pedrick would be proud.