TMA: Too Many Acronyms?

In one of my classes, I'm reading the textbook Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband by William Beyda (ISBN 0-13-145692-X) as required text for the course. It has been a long time since I've read something like this.

In almost every page so far, I'd read at least 10 acronyms: WATS or wide area telecommunications services, FCC or Federal Communications Commission, DCE or Data Curcuit-terminating Equipment, PBX or Private Branch Exchange, etc.

This goes for any networking/data communications course. I remember a comment about this being like trying to memorize license plates of cars. Having taken my last Networking class 3.5 years ago, this is just TMA, Too Many Acronyms, for me. OK now, I can imagine you wincing at my lousy shot at abbreviation. But I really, hope I can adjust smoothly and recall any networking knowledge I have retained that may be of use for this course.

Here are some quotes from the book:

(pp. 42)
"Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code, known as EBCDIC, is an eight-bit character code developed by IBM. EBCDIC is a descendant of several older codes, including Binary Coded Decimal, or BCD, an early code used by computers to represent information internally. BCD led to the development of Extended Binary Coded Decimal, or EBCD, and finally to EBCDIC."

(pp. 65)
"RS-232-C control-signal definitions. Using the TD, RD, and SG pins, data could be transmitted asyncronously between DTEs and DCEs. Synchronous transmission would also require use of TC, RC, and XTC pins..."