<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16608" name=GENERATOR> <div><FONT face=Verdana><STRONG>Acronyms</STRONG></FONT></div> <div><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana></FONT></STRONG> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Meaning</STRONG></FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Words which are formed from the initial letters of other words.</FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana></FONT> </div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Origin</STRONG></FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>When looking for the origin of an unexplained word, people sometimes suggest that the word was coined as an acronym of some phrase or other. Occasionally, that notion is correct and there are some commonly used words that we might use without necessarily being aware they are acronyms, for example 'gulag' or 'Hamas'. Words that were coined as acronyms form quite a small
part of the language. Nevertheless, supposed acronym derivations are the largest source of folk etymologies - those popular fallacies about the origins of words or phrases. With many of these false derivations the word comes first and then some suitably chirpy phrase is invented to match it. These back-formations have been given the intuitive name 'backronyms'. There are many examples and two of the more common, '</FONT><A href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/port%20out%20starboard%20home.html"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>posh</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana size=2>' and '</FONT><A href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/146575.html"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>golf</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana size=2>' (supposedly 'port out, starboard home' and 'gentlemen only, ladies forbidden' respectively), make it onto the </FONT><A href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/nonsense%20nine.html"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Nonsense Nine</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana size=2>, our list of
popular fallacies. Other backronym examples are:</FONT></div> <BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>cop - <EM>C</EM>onstable <EM>o</EM>n <EM>p</EM>atrol <BR>news - <EM>N</EM>orth, <EM>e</EM>ast, <EM>w</EM>est, <EM>s</EM>outh </FONT></div></BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Some backronym coinages make little attempt to feign authenticity and are clearly intended to poke fun. Examples of these are, Ford - <EM>F</EM>ix <EM>o</EM>r <EM>r</EM>epair <EM>d</EM>aily and DOS - <EM>D</EM>efunct <EM>o</EM>perating <EM>s</EM>ystem. </FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Deciding whether an acronym's supposed origin is genuine isn't always so easy. The best place to start is the age of the word. If the word is old, then it probably isn't an acronym. The term 'acronym' itself wasn't coined until the mid 20th century. The earliest known citation of it is from<EM> American Notes and Queries</EM>, February 1943:</FONT></div> <BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana
size=2>Words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words... I have seen... called by the name acronym. </FONT></div></BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Some examples do date from before 1943 but were rare enough beasts in the early 20th century not to have needed a generic name. </FONT></div> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The field of computing is now the most prolific source of acronyms - 'gif', 'ascii', 'wysiwyg', 'mpeg', not to mention the names of most programming languages, the list seems endless. Before computers, the military held top spot. Almost all of the earliest known acronyms derive from the armed forces. For example (with the date of their earliest use as an acronym that I know of):</FONT></div> <BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Anzac - <EM>A</EM>ustralian and <EM>N</EM>ew <EM>Z</EM>ealand <EM>A</EM>rmy <EM>C</EM>orps (1915)<BR>Naafi - <EM>N</EM>avy, <EM>A</EM>rmy, and <EM>A</EM>ir <EM>F</EM>orce <EM>I</EM>nstitutes
(1927)<BR>Gestapo - <EM>Ge</EM>heime <EM>St</EM>aats-<EM>Po</EM>lizei (1934)<BR>Waaf - <EM>W</EM>omen's <EM>A</EM>uxiliary <EM>A</EM>ir <EM>F</EM>orce (1940) <BR>Radar - <EM>Ra</EM>dio <EM>d</EM>etection <EM>a</EM>nd <EM>r</EM>anging (1941)</FONT></div></BLOCKQUOTE> <div><FONT face=Verdana size=2>So, if someone suggests to you that the name of the 15th century game of golf was coined as an acronym, you might suggest suitable therapy, or possibly a free membership of the Committee Resisting Acronymic Proliferation. </FONT></div></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <div> </div> <div> </div> <DIV> <HR> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The Phrase A Week newsletter goes out to 65,000 subscribers (48,500 by e-mail, 16,500 by RSS feed). </FONT></DIV> <div></div> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><A href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/a-phrase-a-week/add.html"><FONT face=Verdana
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