Not all actors are regularly called by their initials, but here are a few who are.

AH: Andrea Hall (ex-Samantha, ex-Hattie; she is Deidre Hall’s real-life twin sister)

AP: Austin Peck (ex-Austin)

AS: Alison Sweeney (Sami)

AT: Alexis Thorpe (ex-Cassie)

AZ: Arianne Zuker (Nicole)

BD: Bryan Dattilo (Lucas)

CC: Christie Clark (ex-Carrie)

DDH: Drake Hogestyn (John; the actor’s full name is Donald Drake Hogestyn, and the extra D is added to his initials to keep from confusing him with Deidre Hall)

DH: Deidre Hall (Marlena)

FF: Farah Fath (Mimi)

JA: John Aniston (ex-Victor)

JC: Jason Cook (Shawn-Douglas)

JE or JEL: Judi Evans (ex-Adrienne; current-Bonnie; the "L" is for the married name she used during her run as Adrienne)

JKJ: Jay Kenneth Johnson (ex-Philip)

JT: Josh Taylor (ex-Chris, ex-Roman)

KA: Kristian Alfonso (Hope)

KB: Kyle Brandt (Philip)

KL: Kyle Lowder (Brady; sometimes called Clam Chowder)

KS: Kirsten Storms (Belle; like her character, she is called Zenon as well)

LK: Lauren Koslow (Kate)

LR: Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie)

MA: Matthew Ashford (ex-Jack)

MBE or MEB: Mary Beth Evans (ex-Kayla)

MR: Melissa Reeves (Jennifer)

PM: Patrick Muldoon (ex-Austin)

PR: Peter Reckell (Bo)

RKK: Robert Kelker-Kelly (ex-Bo)

SN: Stephen Nichols (ex-Patch)

WN: Wayne Northrop (ex-Roman)

There are nine daytime dramas currently airing on network television in the United States. NBC airs two hours and ABC and CBS each air three hours (ABC with three shows, CBS with four). The Young and the Restless has long been the highest-rated show; The Bold and the Beautiful has the strongest international following; All My Children draws the audience most attractive to advertisers; and General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Passions have the largest internet followings.

AMC: All My Children (ABC, debuted 1970)

ATWT: As the World Turns (CBS, debuted 1956)

AW: Another World (NBC; defunct)

B&B: The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS, debuted 1987)

DOOL or DAYS: Days of Our Lives (NBC, debuted 1965)

GH: General Hospital (ABC, debuted 1963)

GL: Guiding Light (CBS, debuted 1952)

OLTL: One Life to Live (ABC, debuted 1968)

PASS: Passions (NBC, debuted 1999)

PC: Port Charles (ABC; defunct)

SB: Santa Barbara or Sunset Beach (both NBC defunct)

Y&R: The Young and the Restless (CBS, debuted 1973)

Beverly Hills: Location of B&B. It is in California (real place).

Genoa City: Location of Y&R. It is in Wisconsin (real place).

Harmony: Location of Passions. It is in New England.

Llanview: Location of OLTL. It is near Philadelphia and Pine Valley.

Oakdale: Location of ATWT. It is in California (real place).

Pine Valley: Location of AMC. It is near Philadelphia and Llanview.

Port Charles: Location of GH. It is in upstate New York (modeled on Buffalo).

Springfield: Location of GL. Like Salem, it is vaguely in the Midwest.

Going Clink-Boom: To go clink-boom is to die painfully and permanently. Sonny and Brenda were star-crossed lovers on General Hospital, but she also loved Jax and he was stuck in a marriage to Lily. Brenda finally decided to marry Jax, and at the exact moment that they toasted their marriage (clink), a car bomb killed Lily (boom). Sonny was free; Brenda was not.

Pulling a Starr: The reference is to Starr Manning, daughter of Todd and Blair Manning on One Life to Live. Starr is not a typical soap child; she is a juvenile delinquent and proud of it. Her hobbies including vandalizing the property of men her mother dates who are not her father; locking people in rooms; running away; hunger strikes; lying; and tricking her parents into sleeping together. When a soap opera pulls a Starr, it turns an innocuous child character into a troublemaker. When a character pulls a Starr, he or she is forcing his or her parents back together. Pictured above.

Pulling a Maxie’s (B.J.’s) heart: On General Hospital in the early 1990s, Maxie Jones was dying and in need of a heart transplant. B.J. Jones was perfectly healthy. B.J.’s school bus was struck by a drunk driver, leaving B.J. brain dead. Her heart was used to save her cousin’s life. Two scenes that often show up in soap opera all-time montages came out of this: one where B.J.’s father puts his head on his niece’s chest to feel his dead daughter’s heart beating, and one where Maxie’s mother learns why Maxie got her transplant and screams "Not Barbara Jean!" If a soap pulls a Maxie’s heart, one major character’s vital organs save another major character’s life.

Talking to a doll, opening a portal to hell, or dating an orangutan: All are references to Passions plot twists, and all refer to a soap drifting away from romance/family/melodrama to a science fiction style. Incidentally, no one actually dates the orangutan (Precious) although it has been known to fantasize about the human residents of Harmony. When the witch Tabitha talks to her doll, it talks back because she brought it to life.