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Backronym


 
 

A backronym (or bacronym) is a phrasePhrase

In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence....
 that is constructed "after the fact"Facts About Back-formation

In etymology, the process of back-formation is the creation of a neologism by reinterpreting an earlier word as a derivation...
 from a previously existing word or abbreviationAbbreviation

Abbreviation is strictly a shorter form of a word, but more particularly, an abbreviation is a letter or group of lette...
, the abbreviation being an initialism or an acronym. Backronyms may be invented with humorous intent, or may be a type of falseFalse etymology Overview

A false etymology is an assumed or postulated etymology which is incorrect from the perspective of modern scholarly work in ...
 or folk etymologyFolk etymology

Folk etymology or popular etymology is a linguistic term for a category of false etymology which has grown up in popul...
. The word is a portmanteauFacts About Portmanteau

A portmanteau is a term in linguistics that refers to a word or morpheme that fuses two or more grammatical functions....
 term combining back-formationBack-formation

In etymology, the process of back-formation is the creation of a neologism by reinterpreting an earlier word as a derivation...
 and acronym, coined in 1983 and documented from 1994:

The arrival of coeducation at St. Paul's in 1971 inspired the verb to scope (a foreclipping and conversion of "telescope") and the derived noun scoper, "one who appreciatively ogles the opposite sex." From this process has arisen an unofficial organization named SCOPERS, a reverse acronym, or bacronym, for "Students Concentrating On the Palatable Extremities of the Reciprocal Sex.
-Richard Lederer, Adventures of a Verbivore, 1994

Backronym versus acronym

An acronym is a pronounceable word derived from the initial letters of a phrase: For example, the word
radarRadar

RADAR is a system that uses radio waves to detect, determine the direction and distance and/or speed of objects such as airc...
 comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging". Letters from the originating phrase are used to construct a pronounceable word. By contrast, a backronym is constructed by starting with a word (or an initialism) and, beginning with the first letter, using each letter to form the next word of the phrase. The word then becomes an acronym or initialism of the newly formed phrase. In this sense, a backronym is the reversal of an acronym.

Since an acronym is defined as a word, and a backronym is constructed from an acronym, it logically follows that the phrase must come from a word. However, this rule is commonly broken, even by dictionaries providing examples such as DVD (an initialism, see image) and SOS (a representation of the emergency signal used in Morse codeMorse code

Morse code is a method for transmitting information, using standardized sequences of short and long marks or pulses commonl...
).

Types

Backronyms can be classified along various types. Note that these types are not all exclusive of each other, that is, a backronym can be mnemonic, pure, and recursive. However, a backronym cannot be both pure and replacement.

Replacement

Some backronyms are back-formedBack-formation

In etymology, the process of back-formation is the creation of a neologism by reinterpreting an earlier word as a derivation...
 from an initialism or acronym that is an abbreviation with another meaning. For example,
  • IBMIBM

    company_name = International Business Machines Corporation |...
     is the official abbreviation for "International Business Machines", but is sometimes jokingly referred to as "I've been moved", used among many IBM employees because of the frequent position changes within the company.

Apronym

Many backronyms are apronyms, that is, the word itself is relevant to its associated phrase.
The relevance may be either serious or ironic. One example is the term BASE jumpingBASE jumping

BASE jumping is the sport of using a parachute to jump from fixed objects....
, which was coined to signify a parachute jump from one of the bases building, antenna, span, or earth.

Most of the examples in the following sections also count as apronyms.

Anacronym

Some backronyms are replacements of other phrases that have become obsolete, either for technological, political or marketing reasons. The result is an anacronym. For example,

  • SADDStudents Against Destructive Decisions

    Students Against Destructive Decisions is the premier peer-to-peer youth education and prevention organization in the USA, w...
     began as "Students Against Driving Drunk" in 1981, but was changed to its present name of "Students Against Destructive Decisions" in 1997 after requests from students themselves to expand the organization's mission.


  • ESVExperimental Safety Vehicle

    Experimental Safety Vehicle is the designation for experimental concept cars which are used to test car safety ideas....
    , originally, in 1970, Experimental Safety Vehicle. Since 1991, Enhanced Safety of Vehicles.
  • RAIDRAID

    In computing, the acronym RAID refers to a data storage scheme using multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among ...
    , originally meant "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks", and now usually "Redundant Array of Independent Disks". This arose as RAID was originally a way to expand the linear capacity of unreliable commodity hard diskHard disk

    A hard disk drive is a digitally encoded non-volatile storage device which stores data on the magnetic surfaces of hard dis...
     devices while providing extra reliability. Now that the hard disk is standard, "independent" is more appropriate.


  • SATSAT

    The SAT Reasoning Test, formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, is a ...
     in the US originally meant Scholastic Achievement Test. In 1941, the College BoardCollege Board

    The College Board is a non-profit examination board in the United States that was formed in the nineteenth century as the ...
     changed its name to Scholastic Aptitude Test (whereas "achievement" suggests what a student has accomplished, "aptitude" suggests a student's potential). In 1990, the name was changed to Scholastic Assessment Test, and finally in 1994, the initials were officially declared to stand for nothing at all. (To add to the confusion, SAT in the UK still stands for Standard Attainment Test, the examination part of National Curriculum assessmentNational Curriculum assessment

    National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments carried out on children attending schools in England...
    s carried out at the ages of 7, 11 and 14.)


  • OCLCOCLC

    OCLC Online Computer Library Center was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center....
     was named Ohio College Library Center when it was founded in 1967. But in 1981, after it had expanded to include libraries outside Ohio, its name was changed to Online Computer Library Center, Inc.


  • DVDDVD

    DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound q...
    s were originally designed as media for audio-visual data, and as such the abbreviation originally stood for "Digital Video Disc", whether or not the medium could carry any data. As the format inevitably came into common use for other data storage, a different semi-official expansion was created, namely "Digital Versatile Disc". However, "DVD" officially does not stand for anything.
  • SOAPSOAP

    SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using []....
     was originally the acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol. An informal vote for a replacement anacronym took place at a W3C XML Working Group meeting. Candidates included Service Oriented Access Protocol and Simple Open Access Protocol, but "SOAP" without definition was officially adopted.
  • GSM, originally from the French "Groupe Spécial Mobile", became Global System for Mobile Communications when the GSM mobile network became increasingly popular around the world.


  • PHPPHP

    * Paamayim Nekudotayim* Standard PHP Library...
    , was developed by Rasmus Lerdorf and originally stood for "Personal Home Page", became "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor", a recursive acronymRecursive acronym

    A recursive acronym is an abbreviation which refers to itself in the expression for which it stands....
    .

False

While not necessarily a type, many backronyms are falsely believed to come from an acronym or initialism that means something else. Unlike anacronyms, these original meanings still hold. Examples include:

  • B.C.E. and C.E.Common Era

    The Common Era , sometimes known as the Current Era or as the Christian Era, is the period of measured time begi...
    , which stand for "Before the Common Era" and "of the Common Era", and correspond to the same reference system as do B.C. and A.D. respectively, were created as a religion-neutral alternative to specify the year. People familiar with the meanings of B.C./A.D. sometimes mistake the new initialisms as modern translations of the original initialisms, such as in "the year 570 of the Christian Era.
  • R.I.P., an internationally used initialism for the Latin Requiescat in pace ("May he/she rest in peace"). is not, as often stated, an English acronym for "Rest in PeaceRest in peace

    The phrase "rest in peace" typically occurs on headstones, often abbreviated "RIP." "Rest in peace" is a prayer that the dec...
    ".
  • RPGRocket propelled grenade

    A rocket propelled grenade is a loose term describing hand-held, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon capable of firing an un...
     is a transliteration of ???, the RussianRussian language

    Russian is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia and the most widespread of the Slavic languages....
     abbreviation of ?????????? ??????????????? ?????????? (reaktivniy protivotankoviy granatomyot), "rocket anti-tank launcher", now sometimes said to stand for "rocket-propelled grenade" instead. (RPG is also used for role-playing gameRole-playing game

    A role-playing game is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create s...
    , in poker culture refers to the usenet group rec.gambling.poker and is the name of a programming language originally called "Report Program Generator" sometime referred to by the backronym "Right Program Guide".)
  • RSVPRSVP

    RSVP may refer to:* "Rpondez s'il vous plat", a French phrase that translates to "Respond please."...
     does not stand for "Respond to Sender Via Post" or "Respond So Very Promptly" but for the FrenchFrench language

    French is the third-largest of the Romance languages in terms of number of native speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese, b...
     "Répondez, s'il vous plaît," which literally translates to "Respond, if it pleases you" or simply "Please reply."
  • AC/DCAC/DC

    AC/DC is a hard rock band formed in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young....
     does not stand for "Anti-Christ/DevilFacts About Devil

    The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity, who, in most Abrahamic faiths, is the central embodiment of evil....
    's Children". nor for "After Christ, the Devil Comes". It actually stands for the electrical terms, "Alternating CurrentAlternating current

    An alternating current is an electrical current whose magnitude and direction vary cyclically, as opposed to direct current...
    " and "Direct CurrentDirect current Summary

    Direct current is the constant flow of electrons from low to high potential....
    ". The founders of the hard rock band, AC/DCAC/DC

    AC/DC is a hard rock band formed in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young....
    , saw the letters on the back of a sewing machine, and thought that a reference to electricity suited their energetic style. The name caused some confusion among Americans because AC/DCAC/DC (disambiguation)

    AC/DC is a hard rock band.AC/DC may also refer to:...
     was a common euphemismEuphemism Summary

    A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the...
     for bisexualityBisexuality Overview

    Bisexuality is the sexual orientation which refers to the aesthetic, romantic, or sexual desire for individuals of either ge...
    .

Recursive

Some backronyms are also recursive acronymRecursive acronym

A recursive acronym is an abbreviation which refers to itself in the expression for which it stands....
s.
Perhaps the most famous of these is GNU, the open sourceOpen source

Open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's sources....
 software project, which stands for GNU's Not Unix.

Backronyms and the 12 steps

Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous is an international community of alcoholics who meet in groups....
 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," but often have an ironic edge.
GOD = Good Orderly Direction
Halt = Hungry Angry Lonely or Tired
Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real / Forgetting everything is all right / Fuck Everything And Run / Face Everything And Recover
Slip = Sobriety Losing Its Priority
Denial = Don't Even Notice I Am Lying

See also

  • Acronym
  • AcronymizationAcronymization

    Acronymization is the changing of the official name of a corporation, advocacy group or any organization to an acronym or in...
  • RetronymRetronym

    A retronym is a type of neologism coined for an old object or concept whose original name has come to be used for something ...
  • Recursive acronymRecursive acronym

    A recursive acronym is an abbreviation which refers to itself in the expression for which it stands....


External links

  • is not specifically about backronyms, but several false examples are discussed among its articles.