Carbon-copies or ccs?

I was reading an article in the LA Times and was struck by one particular sentence.
On June 3, [Webb] sent an e-mail to Sebby, carbon-copying more than 30 friends and others in the aviation community.
Even though I'm old enough to have actually made carbon copies, I rarely ever associate the "cc:" on my email with carbon-copying. I haven't even seen a sheet of carbon paper in years.

The question I have is whether spelling out the term "carbon-copying" is actually more confusing that using the term "cc-ing". I suspect for people under 25*, and older people who never learned what the the "cc:" stands for, that is the case. Even though I knew what the term meant, it looked jarring to me on the page. Maybe the LA Times should change its style book.

(Oh yeah, the article is interesting too.)

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*This is not meant to imply that I am only 25.

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