Backronym

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Humorous example of a backronym used by NASA to name a treadmill on the International Space Station, in reference to American comedian Stephen Colbert COLBERT patch.jpg
Humorous example of a backronym used by NASA to name a treadmill on the International Space Station, in reference to American comedian Stephen Colbert

A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym. [1]

Contents

A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase, [2] such as radar from "radio detection and ranging". [3] By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin." [1] Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the James Bond franchise.

For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996. [4] Officials later publicized the backronym "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response". [5]

Examples

An example of a backronym as a mnemonic is the Apgar score, used to assess the health of newborn babies. The rating system was devised by and named after Virginia Apgar. Ten years after the initial publication, the backronym APGAR was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration. [6] Another example is the American Contract Bridge League's tools to address cheating in online bridge games. EDGAR was originally named for the late Edgar Kaplan, whose many contributions to the game included groundbreaking efforts to reduce illegal partnership communication. The new EDGAR tools expected to debut in early 2024 have been launched with the backronym Everyone Deserves a Game Above Reproach. [7]

Many United States Congress bills have backronyms as their names; examples include the American CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) of 2020, [8] [9] the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) of 2001, and the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act). [10] In the 113th Congress (2013) there were over 240 bills with such names. [11]

As false etymologies

Sometimes a backronym is reputed to have been used in the formation of the original word, and amounts to a false etymology or an urban legend. Acronyms were rare in the English language before the 1930s, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false. [12]

Examples include posh , an adjective describing stylish items or members of the upper class. A popular story derives the word as an acronym from "port out, starboard home", referring to 19th-century first-class cabins on ocean liners, which were shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east (e.g. from Britain to India) and homeward voyages west. [13] The word's actual etymology is unknown, but more likely related to Romani påš xåra ("half-penny") or to Urdu (borrowed from Persian) safed-pōśh ("white robes"), a term for wealthy people. [14]

Another example is the word chav , which is a derogatory term for a working-class youth. This word is probably of Angloromani origin [15] but commonly believed to be a backronym of "Council-Housed and Violent" [16]

Similarly, the distress signal SOS is often believed to be an abbreviation for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls" but was chosen because it has a simple and unmistakable Morse code representation – three dots, three dashes, three dots, sent without any pauses between characters. [17]

More recent examples include the brand name Adidas, named after company founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler but falsely believed to be an acronym for "All Day I Dream About Sport"; [18] [ pages needed ] The word Wiki , said to stand for "What I Know Is", [19] but in fact derived from the Hawaiian phrase wiki-wiki meaning "fast"; [20] or Yahoo!, sometimes claimed to mean "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle", but in fact chosen because Yahoo's founders liked the word's meaning of "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth" (taken from Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels ). [21] The distress call "Pan-Pan" is commonly stated to mean "Possible Assistance Needed", whereas in fact it is derived from the French word panne, meaning breakdown. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

A false etymology is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a folk etymology. Nevertheless, folk/popular etymology may also refer to the process by which a word or phrase is changed because of a popular false etymology. To disambiguate the usage of the term "folk/popular etymology", Ghil'ad Zuckermann proposes a clear-cut distinction between the derivational-only popular etymology (DOPE) and the generative popular etymology (GPE): the DOPE refers to a popular false etymology involving no neologization, and the GPE refers to neologization generated by a popular false etymology.

A naming convention as a form of computer humour especially among playful programmers, yet another is often abbreviated ya, Ya, or YA in the prefix of an acronym or backronym.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mnemonic</span> Learning technique that aids remembering

A mnemonic device or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motto</span> Short sentence expressing a motivation

A motto is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mottos are usually found predominantly in written form, and may stem from long traditions of social foundations, or from significant events, such as a civil war or a revolution. One motto may be in any language, but Latin has been widely used, especially in the Western world.

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. See also the Outline of linguistics, the List of phonetics topics, the List of linguists, and the List of cognitive science topics. Articles related to linguistics include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAS syndrome</span> Acronym redundantly coupled with its word(s)

RAS syndrome is the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym in conjunction with the abbreviated form. This means, in effect, repeating one or more words from the acronym. Three common examples are "PIN number"/"VIN number" and "ATM machine". The term RAS syndrome was coined in 2001 in a light-hearted column in New Scientist.

Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological)reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one through popular usage. The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or otherwise unfamiliar word is reinterpreted as resembling more familiar words or morphemes.

"Chav", also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. The use of the word has been described as a form of "social racism". "Chavette" is a related term referring to female chavs, and the adjectives "chavvy", "chavvish", and "chavtastic" are used to describe things associated with chavs, such as fashion, slang, etc. In other countries like Ireland, "Skanger" is used in a similar manner. In Canada, in the province of British Columbia they're known as "Surrey jacks". In Ontario, the term is "hoodman", an equivalent of the term "roadman" used in England. In Newfoundland, "skeet" is used in a similar way, while in Australia, "eshay" or "adlay" is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acronym</span> Word or name made from the initial components of the words of a sequence

An acronym, a type of abbreviation, is a word or name consisting of parts of the full name's words. Some authorities add that an acronym must be pronounced as a single word rather than individual letters, so considering NASA an acronym but not USA; the latter they instead call an initialism or alphabetism, for a string of initial letters which are pronounced individually. Acronyms commonly are formed from initials alone, such as NATO, FBI, YMCA, GIF, EMT, and PIN, but sometimes use syllables instead, as in Benelux, NAPOCOR, and TRANSCO. They can also be a mixture, as in radar and MIDAS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eggcorn</span> Altered phrase which is still plausible

An eggcorn is the alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements, creating a new phrase having a different meaning from the original but which still makes sense and is plausible when used in the same context. The autological word "eggcorn" is itself an eggcorn, derived from acorn. Eggcorns often arise as people attempt to make sense of a stock phrase that uses a term unfamiliar to them, as for example replacing "Alzheimer's disease" with "old-timers' disease", or William Shakespeare's "to the manner born" with "to the manor born".

The Latin adverb sic inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous, archaic, or otherwise nonstandard spelling, punctuation, or grammar. It also applies to any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might be interpreted as an error of transcription.

<i>Fuck</i> English-language profanity

Fuck is an English-language profanity which often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475. In modern usage, the term fuck and its derivatives are used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an interjection or an adverb. There are many common phrases that employ the word as well as compounds that incorporate it, such as motherfucker, fuckwit, fuckwad, fuckup, fucknut, fucktard, and fuck off.

Wop (slur) is a pejorative slur for Italians or people of Italian descent.

Gene nomenclature is the scientific naming of genes, the units of heredity in living organisms. It is also closely associated with protein nomenclature, as genes and the proteins they code for usually have similar nomenclature. An international committee published recommendations for genetic symbols and nomenclature in 1957. The need to develop formal guidelines for human gene names and symbols was recognized in the 1960s and full guidelines were issued in 1979. Several other genus-specific research communities have adopted nomenclature standards, as well, and have published them on the relevant model organism websites and in scientific journals, including the Trends in Genetics Genetic Nomenclature Guide. Scientists familiar with a particular gene family may work together to revise the nomenclature for the entire set of genes when new information becomes available. For many genes and their corresponding proteins, an assortment of alternate names is in use across the scientific literature and public biological databases, posing a challenge to effective organization and exchange of biological information. Standardization of nomenclature thus tries to achieve the benefits of vocabulary control and bibliographic control, although adherence is voluntary. The advent of the information age has brought gene ontology, which in some ways is a next step of gene nomenclature, because it aims to unify the representation of gene and gene product attributes across all species.

A ned is a hooligan, lout or petty criminal in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bae (word)</span> Slang English language term of endearment

Bae is a slang term of endearment primarily used among youth. It came into widespread use around 2013 and 2014 through social media and hip-hop and R&B lyrics. The term originated as an abbreviation of the word baby or babe. It has been suggested that the term originated as an acronym for "before anyone else," but this is unlikely; this false etymology is probably an example of a backronym.

References

  1. 1 2 "Backronym – Definition of backronym in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries – English. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Acronym". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  3. ↑ NASA. "RADAR means: Radio Detection and Ranging". Nasa Explores. Archived from the original on 2004-01-28.
  4. ↑ "AmberAdvocate.org: AMBER Alert history" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
  5. ↑ "AMBER Alert – America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response". Amberalert.gov. 2007-11-01. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  6. ↑ "The Virginia Apgar Papers - Obstetric Anesthesia and a Scorecard for Newborns, 1949-1958". U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH. Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  7. ↑ Official, ACBL (8 November 2023). "ACBL Battles Online Cheating with EDGAR". Bridge Winners. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  8. ↑ "The CARES Act Works for All Americans". U.S. Department of the Treasury . Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  9. ↑ McConnell, Mitch (2020-06-03). "S.3548 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): CARES Act". www.congress.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  10. ↑ "The art of the 'backronym'". Roll Call . July 28, 2020. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  11. ↑ Bump, Philip (August 2, 2013). "All the Silly Legislative Acronyms Congress Came Up with This Year". The Atlantic . Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ Sheidlower, Jesse (2009). The F-Word . New York: Oxford University Press US. ISBN   978-0-19-539311-8.
  13. ↑ Quinion, Michael (2005). Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths. Penguin. ISBN   0-14-101223-4.; published in the US as Quinion, Michael (2006). Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds . HarperCollins. ISBN   0-06-085153-8.
  14. ↑ "posh, adj. and n.". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009.
  15. ↑ "chav". Wiktionary. The Wikimedia Foundation. 2023.
  16. ↑ Bennett, Joe (30 April 2012). "Everything you ever wanted to know about the word 'chav'". Ideas Lab Predictor Podcast, University of Birmingham. Archived from the original on 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  17. ↑ Rohrer, Finlo (13 June 2008). "Save our SOS". BBC News Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  18. ↑ Brunner, Conrad (2004). All Day I Dream About Sport: The Story of the Adidas Brand. Great Brand Stories. London: Cyan. ISBN   1-904879-12-8.
  19. ↑ "The wiki principle". The Economist. 2006-04-20. Archived from the original on 7 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  20. ↑ "wiki". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  21. ↑ "The History of Yahoo! - How It All Started..." Yahoo.com. 2001. Archived from the original on 29 November 2001. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Green, Eli (18 January 2023). "Qantas flight QF144 lands safely at Sydney Airport after midair mayday call". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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