The Shadow-gloom and Weight of the Sacred

Ever received an email from someone who needed a response from you ASAP? ASAP, of course, is an acronym for "as soon as possible." In my interactions with people, I have found a vast semantic difference between the acronym "ASAP" and its antecedent "as soon as possible."

When someone uses ASAP, they don't really mean as soon as possible, they mean RIGHT NOW.

"Can you get the 2010 financial information to me ASAP?"
"Can you get the 2010 financial information to me as soon as possible?"

See the difference? You may not see the difference from this example, but anyone who has received an email asking for information ASAP knows that the sender isn't really asking that this request fit into your existing schedule. It's not a "at your earliest convenience" request. It's usually an "I'm bloody angry about this and want it done already so stop doing whatever your doing to get this done" request.