Backronym
Encyclopedia
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase
constructed purposely, such that an acronym
can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.
The word is a combination (a portmanteau or a blend
) of backward and acronym, and has been defined as a "reverse acronym". Its earliest known citation in print is as "bacronym" in the November 1983 edition of the Washington Post monthly neologism contest. The newspaper 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".
comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging".
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. For example, the United States Department of Justice
assigns to their Amber Alert
program the meaning "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response", although the term originally referred to Amber Hagerman
, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Texas
in 1996.
s. An example of such 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
, but 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.
Alcoholics Anonymous
and other 12-step programs use backronyms as teaching tools, similar to slogans such as "one day at a time", or "Let go, let God", but often with an ironic edge. For example, a slip may be expanded as "Sobriety Losing Its Priority", and denial as "Don't Even Notice I Am Lying".
Backronyms are also created as jokes, often expressing consumer loyalties or frustration. For example, the name of the restaurant chain Arby's
is a play on "RB", referring to "roast beef" as well as the company's founders, the Raffel brothers. An advertising campaign in the 1980s created a backronym with the slogan "America’s Roast Beef, Yes Sir!"
Many companies or products spawn multiple humorous backronyms, with positive connotations asserted by supporters or negative ones by detractors. For example, Ford, the car company founded by Henry Ford
, was said to stand for "First On Race Day" among aficionados but disparaged as "Fix Or Repair Daily" and "Found On Road, Dead" by critics.
NASA
named its ISS
treadmill the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) after Stephen Colbert
. The backronym was a lighthearted compromise in recognition of the comedian's ability to sway NASA's online vote for the naming of an ISS module.
or an urban legend
. 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 first class cabins shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east and homeward heading voyages west.
The word's actual etymology is unknown, but it may relate to Romani
påš xåra ("half-penny") or to Urdu safed-pōśh (one who wears "white robes"), a derogatory term for wealthy people.
Other examples include the brand name Adidas
, named for company founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler
but falsely believed to be an acronym for "All day I dream about sports"; wiki
, said to mean "what I know is", but in fact derived from the Hawaiian
phrase wiki wiki meaning "fast"; 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." The name of sport golf
was also incorrectly rumored to have been based on the backronym "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden."
The distress signal "SOS
" is often believed to be an abbreviation for "save our ship". In fact, it was chosen because it has a simple Morse code representation — three dots, three dashes, then three more dots – which becomes three-dits
/three-dahs
/three-dits, run together as if it were a single letter. Likewise, its predecessor "CQD
" is often thought to be an acronym of "come quick, danger", "come quickly distress", "come quick — drowning!", or some variation on these. In fact, it was chosen because "CQ" (from the "sécu" of the French "sécurité") was used as a general radio call. The "D" was appended to form a distress signal, indeed coming from the word "distress".
As lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower
points out in his book The F-Word
, acronyms were rare prior to the twentieth century, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false.
Phrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
constructed purposely, such that an acronym
Acronym and initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.
The word is a combination (a portmanteau or a blend
Blend
In linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.-Linguistics:...
) of backward and acronym, and has been defined as a "reverse acronym". Its earliest known citation in print is as "bacronym" in the November 1983 edition of the Washington Post monthly neologism contest. The newspaper 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".
Differences from acronyms
An acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase: For example, the word radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging".
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. For example, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
assigns to their Amber Alert
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
program the meaning "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response", although the term originally referred to Amber Hagerman
Amber Hagerman
Amber Rene Hagerman was a young girl who became a victim of an abduction and murder. On January 13, 1996, she was riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington, Texas, and was kidnapped soon thereafter...
, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in 1996.
Examples
Backronyms can be constructed for educational purposes, for example to form mnemonicMnemonic
A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...
s. An example of such a mnemonic is the Apgar score
Apgar score
The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by the eponymous Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly and summarily assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth...
, used to assess the health of newborn babies. The rating system was devised by and named after Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar was an American pediatric anesthesiologist. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology...
, but 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.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
and other 12-step programs use backronyms as teaching tools, similar to slogans such as "one day at a time", or "Let go, let God", but often with an ironic edge. For example, a slip may be expanded as "Sobriety Losing Its Priority", and denial as "Don't Even Notice I Am Lying".
Backronyms are also created as jokes, often expressing consumer loyalties or frustration. For example, the name of the restaurant chain Arby's
Arby's
Arby's is a fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. Roark Capital Group owns 81.5% of the company, with Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. It is primarily known for selling roast beef sandwiches and curly fries. The Arby's menu also includes chicken sandwiches, appetizers,...
is a play on "RB", referring to "roast beef" as well as the company's founders, the Raffel brothers. An advertising campaign in the 1980s created a backronym with the slogan "America’s Roast Beef, Yes Sir!"
Many companies or products spawn multiple humorous backronyms, with positive connotations asserted by supporters or negative ones by detractors. For example, Ford, the car company founded by Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, was said to stand for "First On Race Day" among aficionados but disparaged as "Fix Or Repair Daily" and "Found On Road, Dead" by critics.
NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
named its ISS
ISS
The ISS is the International Space Station.ISS may also refer to:* I See Stars, an American electronic rock band* ISS A/S, a Danish service company* Idea Star Singer, a Malayalam music reality show by Asianet TV...
treadmill the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) after Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
. The backronym was a lighthearted compromise in recognition of the comedian's ability to sway NASA's online vote for the naming of an ISS module.
False acronyms
Sometimes the backronym is so commonly heard that it is widely but incorrectly believed to have been used in the formation of the word, and amounts to a false etymologyFalse etymology
Folk etymology is change in a word or phrase over time resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. Unanalyzable borrowings from foreign languages, like asparagus, or old compounds such as samblind which have lost their iconic motivation are...
or an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
. 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 first class cabins shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east and homeward heading voyages west.
The word's actual etymology is unknown, but it may relate to Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
påš xåra ("half-penny") or to Urdu safed-pōśh (one who wears "white robes"), a derogatory term for wealthy people.
Other examples include the brand name Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
, named for company founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler
Adolf Dassler
Adolf "Adi" Dassler was the founder of the German sportswear company Adidas....
but falsely believed to be an acronym for "All day I dream about sports"; wiki
Wiki (disambiguation)
A wiki is a collaborative website. Wiki or wiki wiki may also refer to the following:-In technology:* WikiWikiWeb, the original wiki website, and originator of the word "wiki"...
, said to mean "what I know is", but in fact derived from the Hawaiian
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
phrase wiki wiki meaning "fast"; or Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, 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." The name of sport golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
was also incorrectly rumored to have been based on the backronym "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden."
The distress signal "SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
" is often believed to be an abbreviation for "save our ship". In fact, it was chosen because it has a simple Morse code representation — three dots, three dashes, then three more dots – which becomes three-dits
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
/three-dahs
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
/three-dits, run together as if it were a single letter. Likewise, its predecessor "CQD
CQD
CQD, transmitted in Morse code as — · — · — — · — — · · is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use...
" is often thought to be an acronym of "come quick, danger", "come quickly distress", "come quick — drowning!", or some variation on these. In fact, it was chosen because "CQ" (from the "sécu" of the French "sécurité") was used as a general radio call. The "D" was appended to form a distress signal, indeed coming from the word "distress".
As lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower
Jesse Sheidlower
Jesse Sheidlower is an author and editor specializing in English linguistics and lexicography. From 1999 until 2005 he was Principal North American Editor at the Oxford English Dictionary; since 2005 he has been an editor-at-large, focusing on North American usage. He is a frequently cited expert...
points out in his book The F-Word
The F-Word (book)
The F-Word is a book by lexicographer and linguist Jesse Sheidlower surveying the history and usage of the English word fuck and a wide variety of euphemisms that replace it...
, acronyms were rare prior to the twentieth century, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false.
See also
- AcronymizationAcronymizationOrphan initialism is the changing of the official name of a corporation, advocacy group or any organization to an acronym or initialism. Formed like any other acronym, the initial letters of the previous name are used. Such name changes are often connected to the continuous process of brand...
- AcrosticAcrosticAn acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
- RetronymRetronymA retronym is a type of neologism that provides a new name for an object or concept to differentiate the original form or version of it from a more recent form or version. The original name is most often augmented with an adjective to account for later developments of the object or concept itself...
- Recursive acronymRecursive acronymA recursive acronym is an acronym or initialism that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands...
- MnemonicMnemonicA mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...
s