Backronym

A backronym or bacronym is a type of acronym that begins as an ordinary word, and is later interpreted as an acronym. The word "backronym" is a portmanteau of back and acronym, and was coined in 1983. [1] The term is also used for a new set of words put to an existing acronym (e.g. "advanced research projects agency" → "arpa" → "address routing and parameters area").

An acronym is a word created from the initial letters of a phrase: for example, Random Access Memory becomes RAM, pronounced as the word "ram". Note the distinction between acronyms and initialisms: strictly speaking, one uses the term acronym only when the initials are pronounced as if they compose an actual word, though the term "backronym" is often used less precisely and applied to back-formed initialisms as well as back-formed acronyms.

Details

A backronym is created when one constructs a phrase that has, as its acronym, an existing short word. There are both official and generally serious, as well as unofficial and often humorous, backronyms. When a backronym is peddled as the origin of a word, it is often an example of false etymology; when widely believed, it may have the status of a folk etymology; but more usually it is intended and understood as a joke.

Types

Pure

A pure backronym occurs when a sequence of letters is commonly understood to stand for a phrase that had no role in its original conception. Examples are:-

SOS, the international distress signal, chosen solely for its easy recognizability in Morse code, but often thought to stand for "save our ship", "save our souls" or "something openly similar."
CQD, an older distress signal: "come quick, distress (or danger)."
Perl, is a programming language that now powers many web pages around the world. Created by Larry Wall, it was originally named "PEARL", but since that name was already taken, it was shortened to Perl. However, the most common backronym is "Practical Extraction and Report Language". Larry Wall also gives the other main backronym of Perl, "Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister", equal legitimacy.
The word "wiki", from the Hawaiian word meaning "quick". Since its application to consumer generated media, some have suggested that "wiki" means "What I Know Is".
Adidas, a sports brand named after its founder Adolph (Adi) Dassler, commonly thought to have originated as "All Day I Dream About Sports (/Sex/Soccer)."
Ford Motor Company is named for its founder, Henry Ford, but frequently defined as anything from "First on Race Days", "Found On Road Dead", "Full Of Rust and Dents", "Fixed Or Repaired Daily" or "Functionally Obsolete Rat Dung".

Replacement

Some backronyms are back-formed by replacing one or more words in an acronym with another, when the original meaning is deemed obsolete, inaccurate, or inappropriate. For example, DVD originally stood for "digital video disc"; when it was noted that DVDs can store any digital data - video or otherwise - the term "digital versatile disc" was substituted. [2] (Because no agreement was reached about the various possibilities, DVD now officially stands for nothing.)

Other examples are:-

BASIC, is a programming language is an acronym for "Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code" but, mostly in the hacker community, has jokingly come to stand for "Bill's Attempt to Seize Industry Control". This is because Microsoft was well known for its BASIC language interpreters from the late 1970s through mid 1980s.
GSM, originally an acronym for a French research group called "Groupe Spécial Mobile", but later treated as "Global System for Mobile Communications".
SAT Reasoning Test, a well-known example in the United States: originally "Scholastic Aptitude Test", but changed to "Scholastic Assessment Test" after parent groups complained that the word "aptitude" implied that test scores reflected only innate talent and not preparation. It now officially does not stand for anything.
SATs (UK): Defined as "Standard Assessment Tasks" by the National Curriculum [3], this acronym is now variously described as standing for: "Standard Assessment Tests" [4]and "Standard Attainment Tests" [5], "Standard Attainment Targets" [6] and sometimes, redundantly, as "SATs tests" [7]
SAP: originally "Spanish Audio Program", but eventually came to be described as "Secondary Audio Program."
GCC: originally "GNU C compiler", but compilers for various other languages have been added, and the acronym is now expanded to "GNU Compiler Collection."
RAID, originally "Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks", now usually "Redundant Array of Independent Disks".
SNAFU, generally accepted to mean "Situation Normal All Fucked Up," but recently bowdlerized by some to "Situation Normal All Fouled Up."
SPAM luncheon meat, whose name is a short version of "spiced ham" has been known officially as "Specially Processed Assorted Meat" and unofficially as "Stuff Posing As Meat", "Squirrels, Possums, And Mice", "Special Pork and hAM", and "Small Pigs Amalgamated with Meat." Internet spam has also taken the backronym of "Short, Pointless, Annoying Messages" or "Stupid Person's AdvertiseMent".
ISO was often referred to as "International Standard Organization" (official English name: International Organization for Standardization) In fact ISO was originally named because of the "iso(s)" in Greek means "the same", and later came into usage via Late Latin.
NMCI. Officially: "Navy Marine Corps Intranet." Unofficially (among others): "Non Mission Capable Internet." Q.v., NMCI Sucks website[8]

Apronym

Other backronyms are back-formed from an existing word that was not previously an acronym. Generally these 'backronyms' are apronyms, as the word used as the 'backronym' is relevant to the expanded phrase it stands for. The relevance may be either serious or ironic. Most apronyms are examples of 'backronyms'. An example of this is the word "acronym" itself which can be A Clever Representation Of Names You Manufacture. Apronyms may be used as a mnemonic device for remembering the underlying word. Many jocular (and often also derogatory) apronyms are created as a form of wordplay. An example of this is the former name for PC Card, PCMCIA: People Cannot Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms (it was originally an initialism for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), or the numerous backronyms constructed by conservative groups for the ACLU (e.g. Atheists Communists Liberals Unite, Anti-Christian Legislation Union, Anti-Civil Liberties Union) or PeTA (e.g., People for the Eating of Tasty Animals, People Embarrassing the Tidewater Area). Similarly, the protocol associated with computer scanners, TWAIN, is often explained as representing 'Thing Without An Interesting Name'. Microsoft's MCSE is sometimes referred to as 'Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert'. Equally, Microsoft's popular Operating System can be rendered 'Will Install Needless Data On Whole System'.

False

There are also false backronyms, in which letters are commonly, but inaccurately, thought to represent a phrase. Examples are:

A.D., which stands for Anno Domini (Latin: "in the year of the Lord") and counts years since the birth of Jesus. However, many people incorrectly interpret its definition as 'After Death [of Christ]'.
R.I.P., an internationally used acronym for Latin Requiescat in pace ("May he rest in peace"), not an English acronym for "Rest in Peace", as often thought, although the Latin and the English phrases have similar meaning and the same initials.
RPG, for Russian Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot ("handheld antitank grenade-launcher"), now commonly used as an abbreviation of "Rocket-Propelled Grenade".
RSVP does not stand for "Respond to Sender Via Post" but for the French "Répondez s'il vous plaît" which means "Please respond." (As with R.I.P., the English and original have similar meanings.)

Concerned activists in the US created backronyms for famous heavy metal bands that attempt to allude at "evil" or satanic content and perhaps that such meaning was originally intended by the musicians. Examples include:-

KISS (Knights In Satan's Service) (ref: Brothers, Fletcher A. in "The Rock Report", 1987 cites a January 1980 American Photographer article as his source.)
AC/DC (Anti-Christ/Devil's Children) or (After Christ, the Devil Comes) is a myth created by religious figures. It actually stands for Alternating Current/Direct Current. The band's founders (Angus and Malcolm Young) saw the letters on the back of a sewing machine; they thought that a name associated with electricity suited their energetic style.
Slayer (Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot). Brothers further claims that this phrase is inscribed in the vinyl of the 'Show No Mercy' LP.
W.A.S.P. or occasionally spelled WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, also more recently changed to We Are Satan's People / We Are Sexual Perverts). Blackie Lawless sometimes defuses these claims with a simple We Ain't Sure, Pal.

Recursive

Some 'backronyms' are recursive acronyms like GNU, LAME, PHP and WINE or the pseudo-acronym JINI. Hurd takes this one step further and has two mutually recursive acronyms.

Constructed

Other backronyms are constructed so that the expanded name will match a desired acronym. For instance, the USA PATRIOT Act ("Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act") was allegedly constructed to match the desired USA PATRIOT acronym by government staffers in the days following the September 11, 2001, attacks on America, although this has been officially denied.^{[citation needed]}

Some backronyms exploit the bewildering acronyms in the corporate world. For example:-

The old Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, more commonly known as "PSFS," was subjected for years to the backronym "Pretty shitty fucking stupid."
British travelers on the now-defunct Belgian carrier SABENA (originally an acronym for "Société Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne") often referred to it as "Such a bloody experience never again." (Or, less colloquially, "Such a bad experience, never again.")
The ICAO uses ETOPS, meaning Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards, to allow airplanes to fly over water for extended preiods of time. However, ETOPS is sometimes read as Engines Turn Or People/Passengers Swim.
EPCOT, the Orlando, Florida Walt Disney World Resort theme park, correctly standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (or occasionally city), is often referred to as "Every Person Comes Out Tired"
Fiat, the auto manufacturer, is often deridingly read as "Fix It Again Tony" or "Failure in Italian Automotive Technology", in reference to the car's Italian ancestry and its supposed penchant for mechanical troubles. Fiat backronyms in other languages include: Fehler In Allen Teilen ("defects in every part") or Für Italien Ausreichende Technik ("sufficient technology for Italy") in German and "Fábrica Italiana Atrapalhando o Trânsito" (Italian Factory Ruining the Traffic) in Portuguese in Brazil.
CAAC or the Civil Aviation Administration of China is sometimes said to mean, none too flatteringly, China Almost Always Crashed.

Offensive

Some backronyms are intentionally offensive or insulting. For example:

Cary, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina is widely referred to as a "Containment Area of Relocated Yankees" by locals.
Fuck, often apocryphally interpreted as "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" or "Fornication Under Consent of King."
NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is sometimes referred to as "Niggers Are Actually Colored People".
OTAN, the French version of NATO, is commonly referred to as "Oh There's Another Nancy" by British troops.
Chav, a common British colloquialism, has been etymologically interpreted as an acronym of "Council Housed And Violent" or "Council Housed Associated Vermin".
The curse word cunt is often disguised as the acronym Catch You Next Tuesday, C.U.Next Tuesday, or See (C) You (U) Next Tuesday (Thursday can be substituted for Tuesday). The Seth MacFarlane-produced TV shows Family Guy and American Dad have used this acronym.

External links

Backronym expansions of ACRONYM (Acronym Finder)
Citations of the word "backronym" from The Word Spy
List of backronyms (full 86Kb list, as recovered via Answers.com)