Special Terminology

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[edit] Special 9/11 Debate Terminology

Question: What are some common abbreviations used in this debate?

Answer: Here are some of the terms. They are under this category (for now, because of the terms "shill" and "Left gatekeeper", but this location may change).

  • 9/11 -- shorthand for "September 11, 2001"; note that this uses the U.S. date-abbreviation scheme, in which the month's number is followed by the day's number
  • 9/11 Truth -- a term used by 9/11 conspiracists to describe their overall claim that there was a non-alQaeda conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks, although various incompatible "truths" have been promoted by various factions of the "truth movement". "Truth" in this application is almost always capitalized
  • CT -- abbreviation for "conspiracy theory"
  • CTer or CTist -- abbreviation for "conspiracy theorist"; although the latter abbreviation is more similar to the actual term, the suffix of the former makes more sense with the abbreviation. "CTer" appears to be the more common usage on the JREF fora.
  • ETA -- Generally speaking, this stands for "Estimated Time of Arrival". But it has a second meaning in the world of Internet discussion fora. Some discussion board software allows a person to edit a message that they have very recently posted. Adding a new paragraph beginning "ETA:" allows the poster to indicate what has changed, for the benefit of anyone who has already read the uneditted message. The JREF forum software has this feature.
  • JREF -- The James Randi Educational Foundation; This organization has a website which contains a large and active set of discussion boards called the "JREF Forum". One of the standing topic areas is dedicated to critically examining conspiracy theories.
  • LC -- abbreviation for "Loose Change", a series of 9/11 conspiracist videos widely distributed on the Internet in the mid-20-00's. These "documentaries" became a favorite target of debunkers of 9/11 conspiracism.
  • LCF -- abbreviation for "Loose Change Forum", an Internet discussion forum set up by the producers of the "Loose Change" videos, for the purpose of discussing and promoting 9/11 conspiracism and related speculations.
  • Left Gatekeeper -- see here
  • LIHOP -- abbreviation for "Let It Happen On Purpose"; used to refer to the view of one broad faction of 9/11 conspiracists that the attacks were conducted by non-U.S. terrorists, but that the U.S. Federal Government allowed the attacks to proceed unimpeded.
  • MIHOP -- abbreviation for "Made It Happen On Purpose"; used to refer to the view of one broad faction of 9/11 conspiracists that the attacks were conducted by the U.S. Federal Government itself.
  • OBL -- abbreviation for "Osama bin Laden"; This is the same person as Osama bin Laden, but there are variations in the transliteration from the Arabic to the Roman alphabet.
  • OCT -- "official conspiracy theory"; This term is often used by the promoters of the idea that the U.S. Federal Government was behind 9/11; they apparently use it to suggest that the evidence-based conclusion is (1) an invention of official sources themselves (that is, the government, and no one else participated in its construction), and (2) is not to be considered any more valid than the claims of the "other" conspiracy theorists.
  • POTUS -- "President Of The United States" of (North) America
  • shill -- according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, this word means "1a: one who acts as a decoy (as for a pitchman or gambler) b: one who makes a sales pitch or serves as a promoter". The term is applied by 9/11 conspiracists to refer to people who publicly debunk their claims. The suggestion is that a debunker has a financial or ideological incentive to promote the "official story" and challenge 9/11 conspiracist claims, and does not or cannot do so out of honesty.
  • Truther -- (also "Troofer" or "Twoofer" (both derogatory)) -- a proponent of "9/11 Truth" (Q.V.)
  • UBL -- abbreviation for "Usama bin Laden"; This is the same person as Osama bin Laden, but there are variations in the transliteration from the Arabic to the Roman alphabet.

Sources

  1. citation 1
  2. citation 2
  3. citation 3

Related JREF Threads: "Acronyms", http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=67141

Other Resources: Brian Whitaker, "Lost in translation", Guardian Unlimited, June 10, 2002, http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,730805,00.html, last accessed November 6, 2006

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