Ahh! What's Wrong?

john1701a · 03-01-2005, 06:13 PM

By the way... we should take extra care to note who had their wiring connection verified before a replacement part was ordered. Plain, old vibration could be to blame for many of them.

**efusco** · 03-01-2005, 10:20 PM

[quote]And how many times must y'all read the words [b]MULTI-DISPLAY before you finally stop calling it MFD? After all, that is a terrible abbreviation for "Multi-Informational Display", as it is referred to in the owner's manual.
[quote]

Well heck, John, I don't know. I'm not sure where the MFD acronym came from but we've sure all been repeating it for a long time now. I guess it's sort of like the "stealth" thing...not an official term as deemed by the Prius Gods, but certainly is a useful and widely accepted one.

I do agree it doesn't appear in anything official, but I wouldn't get any more wound up about it than I would about someone using a term like gliding, stealth, Prii or any of the multitude of other terms we frequently use in the lay world when discussing all things Prius

kkister1492 · 03-01-2005, 10:21 PM

I thought it stood for Multi-Functional Display. Makes sense to me!

hdrygas · 03-01-2005, 10:45 PM

[quote][quote]And how many times must y'all read the words [b]MULTI-DISPLAY before you finally stop calling it MFD? After all, that is a terrible abbreviation for "Multi-Informational Display", as it is referred to in the owner's manual.

Quote:

Well heck, John, I don't know. I'm not sure where the MFD acronym came from but we've sure all been repeating it for a long time now. I guess it's sort of like the "stealth" thing...not an official term as deemed by the Prius Gods, but certainly is a useful and widely accepted one.

I do agree it doesn't appear in anything official, but I wouldn't get any more wound up about it than I would about someone using a term like gliding, stealth, Prii or any of the multitude of other terms we frequently use in the lay world when discussing all things Prius

Dude, Dude, Dude it is MFD because it is. English is a fluid language subject to changes. We assimilate, like the Borg, we change as need, this is a wonderful language but it is not a rigid language. What is, is go with the flow a MFD is. Or not we shall see if it makes the OUD (Oxford Unabridged Dictionary ).

xevious · 03-01-2005, 11:57 PM

The day I heard my well-respected English prof use the phrase "willy-nilly" to mean random, haphazard, or without apparent correlation, I gave up on the notion of upholding "correct" over colloquial English.

The professor in question eventually corrected herself, but it certainly illustrated hdrygas's point.

Then again, when discussing subjects of a technical or scientific nature, it's a bad idea to allow terminology to be changed pell-mell.

I'll just do the gen-X thing - yawn, stretch, and move on.

Robert Taylor · 03-02-2005, 12:07 AM

Quote:

The day I heard my well-respected English prof use the phrase "willy-nilly" to mean random, haphazard, or without apparent correlation, I gave up on the notion of upholding "correct" over colloquial English.

The professor in question eventually corrected herself, but it certainly illustrated hdrygas's point.

Then again, when discussing subjects of a technical or scientific nature, it's a bad idea to allow terminology to be changed pell-mell.

I'll just do the gen-X thing - yawn, stretch, and move on.

Actually, the language changes. Have you ever had someone explain that the Romans put English into writing, and back then the spellings were phonetically correct in all regards?

night

Originally pronounced nickhet.

Did you have to read Beowulf in college?

Ever consider that someone today would have a hard time understanding the English in use in Revolutionary war times?

I still think that it was a plot to fatten America to move Dinner (a large meal from the noonday repast to the last meal of the day, which used to be supper, and it was the lightest meal of the day.

When people had that hearty breakfast, dinner and then supper, America was thinner.

john1701a · 03-02-2005, 04:09 AM

> I guess it's sort of like the "stealth" thing

Not really. That's a word. It's acronyms in general that I have problems with. They are a bad idea since they give no clue whatsoever to newbies as to their meaning, and we already have enough problems with misunderstandings of the new technology.

bruceha_2000 · 03-02-2005, 07:51 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Robert Taylor\";p=\"68588)</div>

Quote:

When people had that hearty breakfast, dinner and then supper, America was thinner.
[/b]

And more often than not: Did a lot more manual labor, walked a lot more, etc :-)

Heck WAY back when I was a kid, you had to get out of the car and walk into McDs (or up to the window, ours didn't have an 'inside') and they didn't have biggie or super-size. You even had to get up to change the channel or volume on the TV! Amazing that we managed to exist at all!! ;-)

**efusco** · 03-02-2005, 09:12 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a\";p=\"68622)</div>

Quote:

> I guess it's sort of like the \"stealth\" thing

Not really. That's a word. It's acronyms in general that I have problems with. They are a bad idea since they give no clue whatsoever to newbies as to their meaning, and we already have enough problems with misunderstandings of the new technology.[/b]

John,
You can pick and choose to bitch about what you wish, but MFD is no more confusing than is ICE or ECU or any of the other acronyms and there are a ton of places where those acronyms are defined...just like terms like Stealth and MG1 and HSD are.

The point is that even though I concur that you're technically correct that it doesn't seem that Toyota uses the term Multi-function display or the acronym MFD it's still become part of the standard vocabulary on every Prius board (about 12 of them) that I frequent and there's no point in abandoning it at this point just because you happen to take exception to it's use. Trying to do so would almost certainly cause more confusion than keeping it.

I do, however, appreciate you pointing out that it isn't technically correct terminology...something I hadn't appreciated before now.

DanMan32 · 03-02-2005, 12:32 PM

And as far as replace without question, considering there have been numerous claims on the same symptom, showing up more often when cold than hot, what is the aversion to getting it replaced if it is under warranty? Besides, the new one will allow you to toggle between consumption and energy screens with the Info button on the steering wheel. Unless the toggle is the aversion.

As for MFD used as acronyms, it does seem Toyota uses Multi-Display, or Multi-Information Display. The resulting acronyms would be MD or MID. Both of those would definitely cause more confusion than MFD. The former might have someone thinking we are talking about Evan (MD), the latter about something between two other things/values (MID).

03-01-2005, 10:20 PM	#22
efusco Troll Slayer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nixa, MO Posts: 14,240 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #9 Nominated 1 Time in 1 Post TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 24	Re: Ahh! What's Wrong? [quote]And how many times must y'all read the words [b]MULTI-DISPLAY before you finally stop calling it MFD? After all, that is a terrible abbreviation for "Multi-Informational Display", as it is referred to in the owner's manual. [quote] Well heck, John, I don't know. I'm not sure where the MFD acronym came from but we've sure all been repeating it for a long time now. I guess it's sort of like the "stealth" thing...not an official term as deemed by the Prius Gods, but certainly is a useful and widely accepted one. I do agree it doesn't appear in anything official, but I wouldn't get any more wound up about it than I would about someone using a term like gliding, stealth, Prii or any of the multitude of other terms we frequently use in the lay world when discussing all things Prius __________________ Evan E. Fusco, MD Seaside 04BC9/OEM EVb/NAV & auto-BT/XM Radio, CAN-View, Shark Fin, BT Stiff. Plate, Skid Plate & Strut Support

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03-01-2005, 06:13 PM	#21
john1701a Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,717 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: Pioneer #3 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 3	By the way... we should take extra care to note who had their wiring connection verified before a replacement part was ordered. Plain, old vibration could be to blame for many of them.

03-01-2005, 10:21 PM	#23
kkister1492 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 354 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I thought it stood for Multi-Functional Display. Makes sense to me!

03-01-2005, 11:57 PM	#25
xevious Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 187 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	The day I heard my well-respected English prof use the phrase "willy-nilly" to mean random, haphazard, or without apparent correlation, I gave up on the notion of upholding "correct" over colloquial English. The professor in question eventually corrected herself, but it certainly illustrated hdrygas's point. Then again, when discussing subjects of a technical or scientific nature, it's a bad idea to allow terminology to be changed pell-mell. I'll just do the gen-X thing - yawn, stretch, and move on.

03-02-2005, 04:09 AM	#27
john1701a Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,717 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: Pioneer #3 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 3	> I guess it's sort of like the "stealth" thing Not really. That's a word. It's acronyms in general that I have problems with. They are a bad idea since they give no clue whatsoever to newbies as to their meaning, and we already have enough problems with misunderstandings of the new technology.

03-02-2005, 12:32 PM	#30
DanMan32 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Tampa Bay, FL Posts: 3,775 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	And as far as replace without question, considering there have been numerous claims on the same symptom, showing up more often when cold than hot, what is the aversion to getting it replaced if it is under warranty? Besides, the new one will allow you to toggle between consumption and energy screens with the Info button on the steering wheel. Unless the toggle is the aversion. As for MFD used as acronyms, it does seem Toyota uses Multi-Display, or Multi-Information Display. The resulting acronyms would be MD or MID. Both of those would definitely cause more confusion than MFD. The former might have someone thinking we are talking about Evan (MD), the latter about something between two other things/values (MID).