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Backronyms

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Message  gerardM Mar 8 Mar - 22:30

Howdy,

Several topics already speak about backronyms.

You know English-speaking people love to play on words.
As their words are very short and there're only small differences b/w them including in pronunciation, it's rather easy to make mistakes (by foreigners) or to use a close word (by natives) and get funny stuff.

That explains they love to create backronyms (fake meaning appearing afterwards) pretending they are acronyms... Wink
What about creating the name of an organization to get a common word?... this way, the organization will be remembered.


So: right or wrong?
- Posh, Tip would be acronyms (or backronyms)
- CC used to mean "Carbon Copy," but recently it's been redefined with the backronym "Courtesy Copy."
- The definition "Get Rid Of Slimy girlS" is a backronym set up specifically so we could call our club "G.R.O.S.S"
- The USA PATRIOT Act is one such example; lawmakers wanted the name of a groundbreaking piece of legislation to turn into a memorable and distinctive acronym, so they created the desired acronym (i.e., "USA patriot") and then fit the name to it (i.e., "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism")
- the National Organization for Women, for example, undoubtedly liked the thought of being referred to as "NOW," so they may have chosen their name around the desired acronym.
- LOL even the noun "Acronym" looks to be one: "Acronyms Condense Representations Of Neologisms You Memorize"
- "A classic example is the Apgar score to test the health of newborns. It was named after the American physician Virginia Apgar but to help student doctors and nurses remember the system, it has been changed to the acronym “Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration”"
- "the US Amber Alert programme is said to mean “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response”, though it was actually named after a missing child, Amber Hagerman"
- Microsoft’s Bing, some quip, is actually an acronym for “Because It’s Not Google”
- world-weary sailors say navy really means “Never Again Volunteer Yourself”
- some car owners hold that Ford stands for “Fix Or Repair Daily”
- on the same tone FIAT would mean Fix It Again Toni
- the name of the one-time Belgian national airline Sabena (which derives from “Société Anonyme Belge d’Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne”, bless the guy who shortened it) was said to be an acronym for “Such A Bad Experience, Never Again”
- Golf wasn’t created from “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden”


Interesting links:
- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-backronym.htm
- http://www.netlingo.com/word/backronym.php
- World Wide Words -> http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-bac1.htm

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gerardM
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Message  MurielB Mer 9 Mar - 8:38

Hi Gérard, hi everybody
Here is a rather amusing one PATIENCE: Perseverance And Tolerance In Extremely Nasty Circumstances Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy


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Message  gerardM Mer 9 Mar - 13:43

Hi Muriel,

It really is a good one, thank you!
MurielB a écrit:... PATIENCE: Perseverance And Tolerance In Extremely Nasty Circumstances Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
Now, what did you do with the "E"? Did you eat it? Wink

_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.  :-)
gerardM
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Message  MurielB Mer 9 Mar - 19:15

Exactly Very Happy

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Message  gerardM Jeu 10 Mar - 21:24

Hi Muriel, hi everyone,

As we could see it, Backronyms are very serious resources:

- people can denigrate a company or an organization with a negative "meaning"
An example is FIAT-Fix It Again Toni

- organizations can make up a very positive "meaning" for their name
An example is NOW-National Organization for Women
Another example is BING-Because It’s Not Google, just to share a wink...

- backronyms can just be neutral with an old word becoming an ackronym (joke, better "etymology"...)
An example is TIP-To Insure Promptness of service
Another example is SOS-Save Our Souls instead of ...---...

_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.  :-)
gerardM
gerardM

Messages : 31183
Lieu : Ermont & Eaubonne café-langues (Val d'Oise)
Langues : Français (Langue maternelle), US-En, De, It, Ru

http://volangues.blogspot.com/

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