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QC/KC - was Emcee
ninian-uk
March 8, 2006, 10:01 a.m. (Message 44552)
Sylvia wrote... "> QC to means quality control. Where does the K come in? > Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA" QC = Queen's Counsel (if the monarch is a Queen) KC = King's Counsel (if the monarch is a King) "A member of the English or Scottish bar.... A practising barrister or advocate of 10 years' standing may apply to become a Queen's Counsel (or 'take silk', a reference to the gowns they wear). New appointments, made on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, are announced annually on Maundy Thursday." (Cambridge Encyclopaedia, 4th edition, 2000) KC also stands for Kennel Club (well, we've just had Crufts dog show, so that one came to my mind). This is an instance of where I was floored by Sylvia's definition of QC as 'quality control', a definition I haven't seen used. Other examples are the use of PC, which can mean Police Constable, politically correct, Privy Counsellor and personal computer: PCC can stand for Press Complaints Commission, Parochial Church Council and Penge/Pittenweem Cricket Club, plus another I've forgotten since I started typing... another senior moment :~( While we all assume that MC stands for Master of Ceremonies, it can also mean Member of Congress (USA), midheaven (astrological), Military Cross or music cassette; it is also the international abbreviation for Monaco. Everything depends on the context. David (and I promise I haven't been colluding with <pedantic> Fiona in nearby Bristol!) Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK
In a message dated 3/8/2006 7:41:52 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, xxxxxx-xx@xxxxxxx.xx.xx writes: This is an instance of where I was floored by Sylvia's definition of QC as 'quality control', a definition I haven't seen used. It all depends on where you are coming from. As a microbiologist and state inspector of all sorts of medical laboratories (recently retired) I have spent hours reviewing QC records of daily testing. The QC test is the 'reality test'. The answer is always known and if you do a test run and the QC is within the limits of the known value you can feel assured that the other sample results were valid. On the other hand when the QC test doesn't give you the correct answer, you can assume the whole test run is incorrect...... And start over. Sylvia Miskoe, Concord, NH USA
> QC records.... QC test In my experience (in the UK), the term "quality control" has been superseded by "quality assurance", or QA, since many years ago. This definitely applies in the computer industry where Software Quality Assurance is the official term for program testing. Best regards, Jan Beaconsfield, UK
