I do not know if anyone has studied to what extent the formation of an acronym shapes the actual scope of the project that bears it. I admit that this was the case with POPPI, but it was not an unfortunate circumstance of its birth.
The initial 'p' was obvious and irrevocable since I am writing about plants, which is the simplest and most common choice for the thing it names. So no problem there. The same is true of the 'o' for ontology. There is no better term for the nature of being and/or the study of the nature of being. So we are now two for two. Likewise with the second 'p'. I played around with persona and other terms before settling on, actually returning to, personhood as the second characteristic of plants that I would address in this undertaking. The following 'p' for project is so general that it found an instant and immediate place in the title. In fact, it was the second word I settled on, after plant. I can safely say therefore that I made absolutely no compromises in selecting the first three letters of my project's titular acronym.
As for the terminating 'i' for international . . . why not? Like 'project' it is fairly innocuous, and since what I aimed to talk about was in fact a universal or global phenomenon, international seemed an apt descriptor and parameter for the project, while at the same time being more modest than either of those two alternatives. Not only would 'universal' or 'global' make for a lofty claim, either term would have rendered the acronym unpronounceable or nonsensical: Did you read the latest post on POPPG? What did you think of the latest review on POPPU?
But with POPPI, we are in luck. Not only is it pronounceable but it also alludes to a thing that is very much within the theme of the blog. And I like that it merely alludes to the proper name of the flower - poppy - rather than matching it exactly. Acronyms should be more connotative than denotative, suggestive and a bit out of step rather than exact and direct. This off-kilter quality renders a title that is particular to a project. If I had succeeded in naming the project 'POPPY', I am afraid that I would have disappointed a few readers who were hoping to find a blog that was devoted to that most charming of flowers.
I had actually considered naming the project POPPY and spelling 'international' with a 'y' instead of an 'i'. It might have been cute, but ultimately irritating and confusing, so I opted out, as much as I generally embrace the subversion of convention, which after all would have been nicely consonant with the latest research on plants which I highlight here.
So how is POPPI international? Certainly it is in the location and focus of the research it tracks, and certainly in the distribution of plants themselves. There is something cloying and untrue about the way that the terms 'global' and 'universal' are used, so I am happy to avoid them. The term 'international' connotes an appealing liveliness and changeability, suggestive of seemingly limitless permutations over space and through time, that the comparatively static 'global' and 'universal' lack, at least on the surface of their meanings. So thanks to a little bit of luck but thanks mostly to the flexibility of the English language, which is so rich in adjectives, I was able to find an acronym that is simultaneously accurate in description and evocative in spirit.
The initial 'p' was obvious and irrevocable since I am writing about plants, which is the simplest and most common choice for the thing it names. So no problem there. The same is true of the 'o' for ontology. There is no better term for the nature of being and/or the study of the nature of being. So we are now two for two. Likewise with the second 'p'. I played around with persona and other terms before settling on, actually returning to, personhood as the second characteristic of plants that I would address in this undertaking. The following 'p' for project is so general that it found an instant and immediate place in the title. In fact, it was the second word I settled on, after plant. I can safely say therefore that I made absolutely no compromises in selecting the first three letters of my project's titular acronym.
As for the terminating 'i' for international . . . why not? Like 'project' it is fairly innocuous, and since what I aimed to talk about was in fact a universal or global phenomenon, international seemed an apt descriptor and parameter for the project, while at the same time being more modest than either of those two alternatives. Not only would 'universal' or 'global' make for a lofty claim, either term would have rendered the acronym unpronounceable or nonsensical: Did you read the latest post on POPPG? What did you think of the latest review on POPPU?
But with POPPI, we are in luck. Not only is it pronounceable but it also alludes to a thing that is very much within the theme of the blog. And I like that it merely alludes to the proper name of the flower - poppy - rather than matching it exactly. Acronyms should be more connotative than denotative, suggestive and a bit out of step rather than exact and direct. This off-kilter quality renders a title that is particular to a project. If I had succeeded in naming the project 'POPPY', I am afraid that I would have disappointed a few readers who were hoping to find a blog that was devoted to that most charming of flowers.
I had actually considered naming the project POPPY and spelling 'international' with a 'y' instead of an 'i'. It might have been cute, but ultimately irritating and confusing, so I opted out, as much as I generally embrace the subversion of convention, which after all would have been nicely consonant with the latest research on plants which I highlight here.
So how is POPPI international? Certainly it is in the location and focus of the research it tracks, and certainly in the distribution of plants themselves. There is something cloying and untrue about the way that the terms 'global' and 'universal' are used, so I am happy to avoid them. The term 'international' connotes an appealing liveliness and changeability, suggestive of seemingly limitless permutations over space and through time, that the comparatively static 'global' and 'universal' lack, at least on the surface of their meanings. So thanks to a little bit of luck but thanks mostly to the flexibility of the English language, which is so rich in adjectives, I was able to find an acronym that is simultaneously accurate in description and evocative in spirit.
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