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Backronym

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A backronym or bacronym[1] is a reverse acronym, a phrase constructed after the fact to make an existing word or words into an acronym. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.

The word is understood as a portmanteau combining back and acronym. Its earliest known citation in print is "bacronym" in the November 1983[1] edition of the Washington Post monthly neologism contest (1983–2004): journalist Bob Levey quoted winning reader "Meredith G. Williams of Potomac" defining it as the "same as an acronym, except that the words were chosen to fit the letters."[1] Actual use of the word is found in texts since at least 1994.[1]

Backronym versus acronym

An acronym is a pronounceable word derived from the initial letters of a phrase:[2] For example, the word radar comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging".[3]

By contrast, a backronym is constructed by taking an existing word already in common usage, and creating a new phrase using the letters in the word as the initial letters of the words in the phrase, such as bible - basic instructions before leaving earth. The word then becomes an acronym of the phrase.

The idea that a backronym, like an acronym, is a pronounceable word, is sometimes broken, even by dictionaries providing examples such as DVD (an initialism)[4] and SOS (a representation of the emergency signal used in Morse code).[5]

Examples

Jokes and pejorative meanings

Education

Backronyms can be constructed for educational purposes, for example to form mnemonics so that the new initialism is easier to remember.

An example of such a mnemonic is the Apgar score, used to assess the health of newborn children. The rating system was devised by and named after Virginia Apgar, but ten years after the initial publication, the backronym APGAR[12] was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration.

12-step Programs

Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs have a verbal culture that makes extensive use of backronyms. They're used as teaching tools, similar to slogans like "one day at a time," or "Let go, let God."

  • God = Good Orderly Direction[13]
  • Halt = Hungry Angry Lonely or Tired
  • Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real / Forgetting everything is all right / Forget Everything And Run / Face Everything And Recover
  • Slip = Sobriety Losing Its Priority[14]
  • Denial = Don't Even Notice I Am Lying
  • Fine = Filled up (or Freaked out), Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional

False acronyms

Sometimes the backronym is so commonly heard, that it is generally but incorrectly believed to have been used in the formation of the word, and amounts to a folk etymology or an urban legend. Examples of these include:

  • The word wiki, halved from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki" meaning "fast".[15] Since its application to consumer generated media, some have suggested that "wiki" means "What I Know Is".[16]
  • The Thrash Metal band Slayer featured a Backronym in the sleeve of their 1994 album, Divine Intervention, which is "Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot" Forming the name of the band.
  • Adidas has been explained as "All Day I Dream About Sports". The word Adidas actually comes from the nickname of the company's founder, Adi Dassler.[17] It was also alternatively backronymed as "All Day I Dream About Sex",[18] a backronym popularized by the band Korn and rapper Killer Mike, who recorded a song A.D.I.D.A.S.. In Spanish, a popular and sarcastic backronym for Adidas is "Asociación De Idiotas Dispuestos A Superarse" ("Association Of Idiots Willing To Improve").[19] In Dutch, a similar joke exists, "Alle Domme Idioten Doen Aan Sport" ("All dumb idiots engage in sports")
  • Kiss is simply the name of the band, but an urban legend developed which claims that the letters stand for "Knights In Satan's Service"; other versions use "Kings" or "Kids" instead of "Knights".[20]
  • Perl is not recorded to stand for Practical Extraction and Report Language on the Perl website, and Perl does not appear to be an acronym according to the website. However, some websites mention both the above subtitle as well as the backronym Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister.[21]
  • Posh did not originally stand for "Port Out, Starboard Home" (referring to 1st class cabins shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east, and homeward heading voyages west).[22] The musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang popularised this erroneous etymology.[22]
  • Golf is not an acronym for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden" as has been suggested.[23] It is actually derived from the old Scots name for the game, gowf. This word may, in turn, be related to the Dutch word kolf, meaning "bat", or "club", and the Dutch sport called Kolven.[22]
  • Ping does not stand for "Packet InterNet Grouper", "Packet InterNet Groper", "Packet InterNet Gopher" or any such phrase. The name is merely a reference to sonar.[24]

See also

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References

  1. ^ a b c d McFedries, Paul. "bacronym". Word Spy: The World Lover's Guide to New Words. WordSpy.com. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  2. ^ "Acronym". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  3. ^ NASA. "RADAR means: Radio Detection and Ranging". Nasa Explores. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14.
  4. ^ "Backronym Definition". PC Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  5. ^ "Acronym". WhatIs.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  6. ^ http://www.twain.org/faqs.shtm#What%20is%20TWAIN%20an%20acronym%20for
  7. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2005/08/05/askthepilot148/index.html
  8. ^ http://www.opednews.com/articles/FORD--Fix-Or-Repair-Daily-by-Will-Roberts-081204-725.html
  9. ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/spinning-wheels-community-car-lovers/2008/Jun/04/fix-it-again-tony/
  10. ^ http://www.ucg.org/sermons/transcripts/200701publicopinion.htm
  11. ^ Gorman, Dave (2008). America Unchained: A Freewheeling Road Trip in Search of Non-corporate USA. Ebury Press. ISBN 9780091899332.
  12. ^ "The Virginia Apgar Papers - Obstetric Anesthesia and a Scorecard for Newborns, 1949-1958". U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  13. ^ Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly: Volume: 10 Issue: 1/2, ISSN: 0734-7324 Pub Date: 8/6/1993 "Working the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous with a Client A Counseling Opportunity" Dan L. Thompson PhD
  14. ^ "Keep Coming Back: Humor and Wisdom for Living and Loving Recovery by Meiji Stewart Google Books Result". Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  15. ^ "wiki - Definitions from Dictionary.com". Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  16. ^ "The wiki principle". Retrieved 2006-11-15. {{cite web}}: Text "Economist.com" ignored (help)
  17. ^ All Day I Dream About Sport: The Story of the Adidas Brand, ISBN 1904879128
  18. ^ "Urban Legends References Pages: Adidas". Retrieved 2007-10-15. {{cite web}}: Text "Snopes.com" ignored (help)
  19. ^ "Ludoacronimia". Retrieved 2008-02-08..
  20. ^ Brothers, Fletcher A. in "The Rock Report", 1987 cites a January 1980 American Photographer article as his source.
  21. ^ http://www.ugrad.cs.ubc.ca/~cs219/CourseNotes/Perl/history.html Mention of the subtitle and backronym
  22. ^ a b c Quinion, Michael (2005). Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-101223-4.; published in the US as Quinion, Michael (2006). Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-085153-8.
  23. ^ See article at Snopes.
  24. ^ "The Story of Ping".
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