Pseudo-acronym
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A pseudo-acronym (or null acronym)[1] is an apparent acronym or other abbreviation which doesn't stand for anything, or cannot be officially expanded to some meaning. An orphan acronym is a pseudo-acronym that was once a true acronym or initialism. For instance:
- In Texas_A&M_University's name, the A&M originally stood for "Agricultural & Mechanical," but "[e]ffective on August 23, 1963, the Texas Legislature approved a bill changing the name of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas to Texas A&M University. Under the new designation the A&M did not signify 'agricultural and mechanical' but was regarded as symbolic." [2]
- xkcd, the title of a webcomic created by Randall Munroe, stands for nothing and never has.[3]
[edit] Pseudo-initialisms
The following are not pseudo-acronyms, because they are not pronounced as words, but are instead termed pseudo-initialisms:
- The Black Sabbath song "N.I.B." is merely the word "nib" spelled as an initialism, often taken to stand for "Nativity in Black".[4]
[edit] Anti-acronym
An anti-acronym is an acronym or other abbreviation which officially stands for something, but pretends not to, such as phrases which paradoxically deny their own existence. (This is very common among computer programs, especially UNIX programs.) These are also recursive acronyms in that part of the acronym expands to the entire acronym.
