Well going back to the thread, here is a list i found of abbreviations and acronyms, altered to be used on this forum.
AH, Alternate History as a concept and genre of fiction.
TL = Timeline. Either refers to only the timeline of an alternate history scenario or (increasingly more often) to the scenario as a whole.
WI = What If? The basic question that leads to alternate history ideas. What if this or that had happened otherwise than in real history, etc. This acronym can mostly be seen in the pre-1900 and post-1900 forums of the board, where it is used by board members while suggesting points of divergence.
OTL = Our Timeline. Our real history, our own historical universe. More rarely, the acronym can also refer to the AH website OtherTimeLines.com.
ATL = Alternate Timeline. A single, specific alternate universe and its history, More rarely, the acronym can also refer to the AH website alternate-timelines.com.
AT.com = acronym also used to refer to alternate-timelines.com.
(I)OTL and (I)TTL = “In Our Timeline” and “(In) This Timeline”.
PoD = Point of Divergence or points of divergence. A point in which an ATL branches out from OTL, creating an alternate history.
ASB = Alien Space Bats. A plot-device creature capable of ISOTing (see below) anything up to whole planets galaxies, to allow time travel and teleportation, to create and destroy life, make everyone change sex and give them the arms of a bear, and so on. Used as an explanation for scenarios which are magical or otherwise unlikely. By AH.com Convention, this category also includes WIs within fictional universes, such as Star Wars.
ISOT = Derived from the name of the novel Island In the Sea of Time, written by S. M. Stirling. On AT.com, “ISOT” is used as both a verb (magically transporting an area of Earth through time) and a noun (the name for a timeline that involves an ISOT, or a reference to the event). Strictly speaking, the term “ISOT” should only be applied when it concerns a large area (such as a country or island), but AH.commers have taken to using it in lieu of the 'time travel' or 'teleportation to the past' concepts in general (e.g. as in the phrase “I'll ISOT myself to the year 1914”).
AHC = “Alternate History Challenge” (often just “Challenge:”). A challenge to create a specific type of alternate history scenario, preferrably in the most realistic/plausible manner possible. Often doubles as a “What if?” or “How can I create such an AH scenario?” question.
PC = “Plausibility Check”, a close relative of the WI and AHC style of discussion thread. As its name implies, it isn't purely about spitballing “What If?” ideas, but focuses rather on discussing the plausibility of a potential what if idea (e.g. “PC: Can the modern Kingdom of Norway found overseas colonies in the Pacific with a PoD after 1920?”).
FH = Future History.
DBWI = Double Blind What If. Example being, what if "Harold II had been defeated at Hastings and the Normans had conquered England?" - which might lead to anything from people discussion England being a permanent part of the French kingdom to suggestions that the Anglo-Saxons would quickly throw off the Norman yoke say.
FBWI = Future Blind What If, derived by analogy from DBWI. Appearing in the Future History subforum, FBWIs generally consist of roleplaying and never actually ask “What If?”.
TLIAD = “Timeline in a day.” A type of deliberately short TLs that you only need a few hours or a day to write and post in its entirety, but still presents an interesting AH scenario worth reading. Can also have week-long (TLIAW), fortnight-long (TLIAF) or month-long (TLIAM) variants.
FHSW = The Future History & Shared Worlds board on of alternate-timelines.com.
Self-Insert = the term used for a particular type of the “personal ISOT” scenario.
KB = Kick & Ban thread.
TL-191 = The timeline of the Southern Victory book series (written by Harry Turtledove), referring to its POD centered on Robert E. Lee's Special Order 191 (failed in OTL, successful in the ATL of the series).
DE = the
Darkearth verse created by
simon darkshade .
HYW = Hundred Years' War.
SYW = Seven Years War.
ARW/AWI = American Revolutionary War/American War of Independence.
ECW = English Civil War.
ACW = American Civil War.
RCW = Russian Civil War (or, occasionally, Reverse Cold War).
WWI / WW1 = World War 1/The First World War.
WWII / WW2 = World War 2/The Second World War.
CSA = Confederate States of America.
HRE = Holy Roman Empire. Also used in the verb/phrase 'HRE-ise', which means even wilder balkanisation than the usual one.
A-H = Austria-Hungary. Not to be confused with the “AH” acronym.
WOI = War of Independence.
POTUS = President of the United States.
Wank = AH where one nation is distinctly preferred, more than would be a.) understandable, b.) realistic and/or c.) tasteful. Typical nationwanks: USA conquers both American continents. Russia conquers Eurasia. Japan creates its Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. The British Empire/Ottoman Empire/Austria-Hungary/Roman Empire/Napoleon's Empire lives until today and becomes yet even stronger. Germany wins WWI or WWII. Etc. There are also non-national forms of Wank, such as “techwank”, in which the side with the superior technology (especially in ISOTs from the future) ALWAYS wins, and we're expected to cheer. For even more outrageous scenarios.
Butterfly Effect = Describes the secondary, minor effects of every Divergence that add up over time. Read the main article for a more in-depth analysis.
] escaped any management role I don't know what would be involved but if its something new members would see and a fairly simple one-off without any additional burden for you it might help new members or visitors who don't know too much about alternative history, terminology and the like.
] escaped any management role I don't know what would be involved but if its something new members would see and a fairly simple one-off without any additional burden for you it might help new members or visitors who don't know too much about alternative history, terminology and the like.