Sometimes the intertextuality is hidden. This may be due to a conscious choice from the author. Other times it is caused by poor craftsmanship.

The intertextuality is only sometimes shown directly. Implicit intertextuality requires that you see the connections based on your experiences and knowledge. These relationships are not necessarily known to the author. They are formed in your reading process and will thus be personal to you.

Use of abbreviations in a text is also intertextuality. Abbreviations are generally frowned upon but, unfortunately, widely used, especially in technical documentation. An abbreviation may appear without further explanation. In such cases, the meaning of the abbreviation is assumed to be known. This assumption may be correct, as many abbreviations have become part of everyday speech. For example, we say and write LED, and not "Light Emitting Diode".

Unfortunately, abbreviations also become part of the company culture, and thus a "tribal language" that you cannot assume that any outsiders (read: customers) will understand. This situation is often "remedied" by introducing a list of all the abbreviations at the front or back of the publication. With that move, implicit intertextuality is introduced. As long as it is not clearly stated in a page reference, it is assumed that the reader - based on experience and cultural understanding - understands that the publication contains a list of abbreviations.

If the reader understands this, he (or she) must scroll an unknown number of pages forward or backwards in a paper-based publication, find out what the abbreviation means, and then scroll back again. If he manages to find out where he was.

In modern publications - especially if they are interactive - we cannot expect the reader to know that there is a list of abbreviations. Modern technical manuals are not intended to be read sequentially. In topic-based publications, the whole purpose is for the necessary topic to be found and read. The publication is then closed. Everything else is unimportant.

It is a good writing rule to explain an abbreviation the first time it is used. Unfortunately, many inexperienced writers forget this and assume that "everyone" knows the abbreviations used. The excuse is often that the abbreviations are "common for this product". The problem is that not all readers are equally familiar with the product. Some may even open the documentation for the first time. If a given text is reused in another publication, it is also easy to lose the explanation. In any case, the result is an unfamiliar abbreviation which, at best, the reader consumes without understanding it. The problem is thus "solved" by resignation. This way of handling abbreviations is rhetorically inferior craftsmanship, and I consider it an insult to the reader.

In addition, it may be appropriate - as an apropos - to remind Språkrådets (the Norwegian Language Council) simple rules about abbreviations (in my translation):

Tip Think back to the last time you saw a presentation from the sales manager or a visiting salesperson. Can you say with your hand on your heart that you understood all the abbreviations?

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References

1. Språkrådet: Forkortelser, www.sprakradet.no, (Link) (Accessed April 2023)

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