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Compound symbols

I regularly see people defining functions, variables or metrics that consist of a series of multiple letters. E.g., the mean absolute error, abbreviated as MAE.

In pure text there is no probleme with this, but as soon as we use that metric in a math environment (inline or in an equation), we should be aware that your LaTeX compiler interprets \(MAE\) as \(M\) times \(A\) times \(E\), and will insert extra spacing to make that clear:

We tend to forget about that, so very often I see:

LaTeX-rendering
The $MAE$ amounts to $\qty{0.75}{\centi\meter}$.

instead of

LaTeX-rendering
The $\textsl{MAE}$ amounts to $\qty{0.75}{\centi\meter}$.

Again, your actual font may make the effect less pronounced. However prepare yourself for font changes and do it first-time right!