Acronym Angst

A group of enterprising students at Howard High School has caused a bit of stir with a t-shirt. According to this story by Lindsey McPherson in The Howard County Times, Conor Soop and some fellow classmates started a t-shirt company and“created their first T-shirt design in the interest of school spirit using the acronym "FLR."

The students innocently claim these initials stand for “Fierce Lions Roar.” The school mascot is the lion. Others however have interpreted the shirt a bit differently. Howard’s main rival is Long Reach and the t-shirt made its debut before a recent football game between the two schools. The principal of Howard, Gina Massella determined that “many students interpreted the acronym as a derogatory expression against Long Reach.”

Ya think?

Still, this t-shirt controversay seems tame by comparison with Wakefield High School in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Their track and field team boosters garnered national attention last week when they began selling “WTF” t-shirts.