Pow means 'prisoner of war'.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I keep seeing the Princess of Wales referred to as the 'PoW'. It's annoying me so I thought I'd come here and see if anyone else is annoyed.

And of course MN corrected PoW to Pow.

Yes.

It means a number of things OP - that’s how acronyms work. TIA can mean transient ischaemic attack or thanks in advance. POA can mean power of attorney or price on application.

It really isn’t worth getting worked up about.

I’m content that acronyms have to be multipurpose. it’s always clear from context.

PoW could be Prince of Wales, too. Handily flexible.

Maybe she is? <ducks and runs.>

It can mean more than one thing. And MN didn’t correct it, your phone/computer did.

Mmmmm extra bonus pendantry

And yes, in many cases I'm used to them meaning different things. But PoW is so long-established, it would be like AIDS or the UN being reused.

Or, cba can mean classroom based assessments or Cannot Be Arsed (which my teen seems to understand from the acronym)

I agree. it's being done on purpose IMO. She's never been referred to as PoW before on here as far as I recall. Strange.

I've been seeing it a bit referred to her as that and I just think it's gross

Or Places of Worship. Context is all!

Honestly, I was kind of side-eyeing my own dickheadness with what I wrote 😁

I think it’s rude to give an acronym to a high ranking royal. How hard is it to write the correct title?

I completely agree, I have to think about it every time I see it.

It took me a while to realise it meant Prince/Princess of Wales also.

As a previous Mumsnetter once said "I'm Autistic, pedantry is fitted as standard"

I've also seen PoW and thought the same. I guess it doesn't help that the threads about Catherine have popped up on all the boards lately (including Relationships!)

It doesn't help that she is still regularly referred to as Kate Middleton. She's been married to William for 13 years now. It reminds me of how Diana used to get called 'Lady Di' long after she married Charles.

That’s just ludicrous sycophancy 🙄. Nothing rude about it at all. People can refer to members of the royal family by any moniker they choose.

Doesn't bother me. Context. Although, PoW can refer to either William or Catherine, so - yes, context. What does bother me is her being referred to as Kate Middleton, but there's already a thread about that and I seem to be in the minority.

I must say when I saw a thread saying PoW it was prisoner of war that I thought of - before thinking, hang on, can;t be that.

I'm not so fussed - but 100% agree that her name is not Kate Middleton! I mean I am certs no royalist but the woman's name is Kate (maybe) or Catherine Windsor. Princess of Wales is also correct. She dropped the Middleton AFAIK a number of years ago. Agree re "Lady Di" when she was no such thing. It's sloppy journalism.

I have my husband's patronymic rather than my dad's, and I would be majorly fed up if I was referred to as the surname I no longer use tbh.

HRH is normal so I don't see that. It does seem to be new. Maybe the thought is that we will all be constantly writing about her and therefore an acronym is required. Which in and of itself is distasteful.

@TreasurePieLand I enjoyed it!

PoW should be kept for prisoner of war as it has stood for that for such a long time and is so commonly used and accepted to mean that.
Princess Diana was never referred to as PoW neither was Charles when he was Prince of Wales.

I agree. I opened a thread or two that I thought were referring to Israel/Palestine and was wondering why people were calling hostages POWs.

Mind you, I then got sucked in to threads that were a wondrous mixture of sycophancy, bat shit insanity and sanctimonious beratement. I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor on how unbelievably invested some people are in people they have never even met in most cases and if they have met them, it was fleeting at best.

IP intellectual property/internet protocol
POS point of sale/piece of shit
Just get over it OP

If I'm Optimally Perfect, why would I get over it?

See what I did there?

Yes, I saw pow and got confused for an instant. That'll teach me to click on royalty threads!