Air carrier pilot reported confusion at dtw when the acronym rotg was used in the ATIS.

Attributes
ACN	1613806
Time
Date	201901
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	DTW.Airport
State Reference	MI
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 170 Flight Crew Total 2060 Flight Crew Type 65
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Narrative:

Dtw ATCT controllers stopped issuing 'RNAV to' takeoff clearances about a month ago. Instead; they are now providing a tower-assigned heading with all takeoff clearances; including to aircraft who are filed on the new RNAV sids out of dtw. Dtw ATCT has decided to communicate this on the digital ATIS with a vague remark 'rotg not in effect.' almost nobody understands what this means at first glance; unless they ask. According to FAA order 7340.2; rotg means 'rotating;' which is not the intended use here. It would be nice if dtw ATCT would just spell out 'RNAV off the ground not in effect' or better yet; to change that to 'expect tower assigned heading' on the departure ATIS. The term 'RNAV off the ground' is not really well-known to most pilots. If they want to use the rotg abbreviation; it would be nice to get it added to the aforementioned order.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier pilot reported confusion at DTW when the acronym ROTG was used in the ATIS.

Narrative: DTW ATCT controllers stopped issuing 'RNAV to' takeoff clearances about a month ago. Instead; they are now providing a tower-assigned heading with all takeoff clearances; including to aircraft who are filed on the new RNAV SIDs out of DTW. DTW ATCT has decided to communicate this on the digital ATIS with a vague remark 'ROTG NOT IN EFFECT.' Almost nobody understands what this means at first glance; unless they ask. According to FAA Order 7340.2; ROTG means 'rotating;' which is not the intended use here. It would be nice if DTW ATCT would just spell out 'RNAV OFF THE GROUND NOT IN EFFECT' or better yet; to change that to 'EXPECT TOWER ASSIGNED HEADING' on the departure ATIS. The term 'RNAV off the ground' is not really well-known to most pilots. If they want to use the ROTG abbreviation; it would be nice to get it added to the aforementioned order.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.