I didn't know what the OP abbreviation meant until I came to this forum. The first time I encountered the term I had to google it. 
I assume that the term is known to members who have more experience with internet forums and message boards.
I assume that the term is known to members who have more experience with internet forums and message boards.
I don't know what the problem is with this. Anyone who doesn't know what OP means, which is widely known on the internet, should look it up like you did.
As it was said by Welsh, most users might not know the meaning or the reason adding the feature to their name.
I'd much rather thread starter, original topic starter or thread creator underneath their name or something, because I can guarantee it, not everyone will know what "OP" stands for. Anyone that has been using forum software for a long time, probably will, and sure they could ask if in doubt, but that increases the chances of them asking in that thread, and therefore going off topic or opening a new thread which will likely happen a few dozen times every year.
If you ask in the thread, it still gets a pass. But if someone opens a thread to ask that question, which means they haven't spent 5 seconds to google it, I'm going to put them on my ignore list.
