Greg Ransom
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Ransom Papers
For those who weren't there, back in 1973 Al Gore hadn't yet invented the Internet. ("CYA" is the subject line of the forged CBS "Bush Memo" dated 18 August 1973.)
A reader writes:
Just had to speak up and say that CYA is most definitely *not* an "INTERNET EXPRESSION". Yes, it's used in email and IM, but even this thirtysomething remembers hearing it during my youth in the 70's (and laughing like a loon at its mere mention because we also had a local youth sports group called the Chantilly Youth Association that called itself CYA). I would imagine that it dates back to WWII, which also produced that other well-known acronym "FUBAR".Lets think about actualities and possibilities. Is it more likely that someone would use the acronym as a subject header on a real memo in 1973 or in a forged document in 2004? Well, it's almost a certainty that the later actually happened -- iand t is an incredible long shot that the former ever would have happened on a military document -- most especially in 1973.
UPDATE: The same reader writes again:
Thanks for adding my comments. I should have said up-front that the ONLY nit I was picking was with your description of CYA as an "INTERNET EXPRESSION", by which I thought you meant it's a recent Internet-driven addition to the language and therefore an anachronism that, by itself, shows how bogus these letters are. I definitely agree with the clarification you added about actualities and possibilities, I just don't agree that it's an "INTERNET EXPRESSION". Things like "LOL" and "ROTFLMAO" are better examples of that category. Keep up the great work!Posted by Greg Ransom
