I think the reason “iff” hasn’t caught on more broadly is because it’s easily misread as “if”
Also, if you aren’t familiar with “iff” you might see it and assume it’s just a typo for “if”. Jargon catches on better if it’s obviously jargon, so people can google it or ask questions when they notice they don’t understand.
Why ‘ifeff’, though? I’m not seeing a logical connection between the ‘-eff’ and ‘… and only if’. I’d have expected the best shorthand to look more connected to the original, like ‘iffo’.
“Eff” is the pronounciation of the letter f, so iff becomes if-f becomes if-eff. It might be more intuitive with a dash, but also it’s less like a word. I’ll edit in an explanation of the etymology; I thought it was more intuitive than it actually was.
Also, if you aren’t familiar with “iff” you might see it and assume it’s just a typo for “if”. Jargon catches on better if it’s obviously jargon, so people can google it or ask questions when they notice they don’t understand.
Why ‘ifeff’, though? I’m not seeing a logical connection between the ‘-eff’ and ‘… and only if’. I’d have expected the best shorthand to look more connected to the original, like ‘iffo’.
“Eff” is the pronounciation of the letter f, so iff becomes if-f becomes if-eff. It might be more intuitive with a dash, but also it’s less like a word. I’ll edit in an explanation of the etymology; I thought it was more intuitive than it actually was.
Ahh, OK. This has the advantage that it’s connected to ‘iff’, so you’re competing less with existing usage.