One common abbreviation used in Roman letters was SPD, which was short for salutem plurimam dicit, or "sends many greetings." This served as a greeting at the beginning of a letter, to indicate the sender and the receiver, as in "Marcus Sexto SPD" {"Marcus sends many greetings to Sextus"}. Another popular acronym was SVBEEV, which was short for si vales, bene est, ego valeo {"if you are well, that is good, I am well"}. Such abbreviations saved space and time, just as acronyms {BTW, AFAIK, IANAL} do today in Internet posts and text messages."
( Tom Standage )
[ Writing on the Wall: Social ]
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