What a Backronym Is
Today I found out what a backronym is (also commonly spelled bacronym).
In short, a backronym is when you treat a word that is not an acronym as if it was an acronym, constructing a phrase out of the word. For example: Delta – Doesn’t Ever Leave The Airport
Backronyms are often used for humorous effect as in the example above, but they are also quite commonly used unintentionally. For instance, many people believe the word “wiki” is an acronym for “What I Know Is”, but in fact it is not. The word ‘wiki’ is derived from the Hawaiian phrase “wiki wiki”, meaning ‘fast’. Thus used as: wiki – What I Know Is, makes this an example of a backronym.
The earliest known reference to the word backronym in print was in a November 1983 edition of the Washington Post monthly neologism contest. Here Meredeth G. Williams of Potomac was quoted by journalist Bob Levey as describing a backronym as “the same as an acronym, except that the words were chosen to fit the letters.”
Since then, the word has slowly spread and can be found in numerous texts since around the early 1990s.
Here are some other common backronyms:
- Microsoft’s “Bing”: Because It’s Not Google
- Microsoft’s “Bing” recursively done: Bing is not Google
- Adidas: All Day I Dream About Sports. In other languages: (spanish) “Asociacion De Idiotas Dispuenstos a Superarse”, “Association of Idiots willing to Outdo Themselves”; (dutch) “Alle Domme Idioten Doen Aan Sport”, “All dumb idiots engage in sports” (side note, are there non-dumb idiots?)
- Golf: Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden
- Fine: Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional
- Navy: Never Again Volunteer Yourself
- From Alcoholics Anonymous:
- God: Good Orderly Direction
- Halt: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired
- Slip: Sobriety Losing Its Priority
- Denial: Don’t Even Notice I am Lying
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FORD – Fix Or Repair Daily!
Also…
FORD Found On Road Dead
F* Or Restricted D*?k.
Other famous (or candidly still thought by many as not) backronyms
posh is not “Port Out Starboard Home”
f*ck is not “Fornicate under Consent of the King”
spa is not “sana per acqua”
nylon is not “now you die old Nippon” nor “New-York London”
SOS is not “Save our Souls (or Ship)”
Generally, all those old acronyms which look just too good to be true, well, ain’t.
some references:
http://www.etymonline.com/baloney.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initialism#Acronyms_as_legendary_etymology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS
There’s also FORD: First On Race Day
Hey I have one about Toyota: 😀
Taking
Over
Your
Optimism
Towards
Automobiles.
The rock band KISS…. Knights In Satans Service!
I think it would be better if wiki stood for What the Internet Knows Is.
You all left out the most famous backronym of all: SOS.
What about when you take a list of things and make up a sentence to remember the list? Like the six steps of scientific method: Observation, Problem, Hypothesis, Experiment, Results, Conclusion. I made up the sentence: Only Parker Has Every Red Crayon to help my fifth grader memorize the six steps. Is this called something?
mnemonic, noun: a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.
Honda = Had One, Never Did Again … although I always loved Hondas myself, so not sure who came up with that one …
Also, U.S. Army = Uncle Sam Ain’t Released Me Yet
I wish I could recall the Pontiac one … there is a good one.
People On Narcotics Think It’s A Cadillac.
WIFE: Wash Iron Feed Etc
BITCH: not only a female dog, but also; “Babe In Total Control of Herself”
MARINES — My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment, Sir!
Alitalia — Always Late In Takeoff, Always Late In Arrival