Most lawmakers aren’t bothered by it, but to Rep. Barney Frank, the no-nonsense chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, it’s a serious problem.

So he’s put his panel on notice that he will no longer tolerate cute bill titles.

“The title of this bill is unfortunately an acronym,” the Massachusetts Democrat said during the recent markup of a bipartisan measure (HR 556) that would overhaul the process for reviewing foreign investment in the United States. “The chair does not intend to bring forward further legislation in which the title is a word.”

In this case, the title was National Security FIRST Act — short for National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2007.

“I regret that you won’t allow any more acronyms,” replied Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., the bill’s main sponsor. “We worked hard on this acronym.”

In the end, Frank did allow the name — mainly because he supports the bill and because it’s likely to be the first one reported out by his committee to be voted on in the full House. The Rules Committee meets Tuesday, and the bill could reach the floor later in the week.