I knew about SCUBA (Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled Up), and NEWS (North East West South). I’m glad that the longish Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation has been shrunk to LASER.
Thanks to aimless surfing, my trove of “acronyms” has just grown richer with the addition of these words:
Canola CANadian Oil, Low Acid
OK Oll Korrect (all correct)
YAHOO! Yet Another Hierarchical Official Oracle
M&Ms Mars and Murrie
“AWS, I AFOCL and it’s AYF. AYCOOYM,” however, is way too complicated for this dinosaur. I leave that stuff to inveterate online chatters. Please check meaning at the bottom of this post.
Oh, but I almost fell for this list—hook, line, and sinker:
CHESS Chariot, Horse, Elephant, SoldierS
COLD Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
JOKE Joy of Kids Entertainment
AIM Ambition in Mind
DATE Day and Time Evolution
EAT Energy and Taste
FEAR False Evidence Appearing Real
TEA Taste and Energy Admitted
PEN Power Enriched in Nib
SMILE Sweet Memories in Lip Expression
BYE Be with You Every time
Good that I heeded the cautionary advice: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” That’s how I learned about “backronyms,” or recently coined meanings to match certain words. Some of these back-formed meanings are cute, though without basis in fact (e.g., golf = gentlemen only, ladies forbidden). How can you tell a legitimate acro from a backro? Awful grammar is a clue. Also, if a word is older than you are (or your oldies), but was given a recent funny phrasal meaning, then you have reason to doubt its legitimacy.
Take this example:
Abbreviated Coded Rendition of Name Yielding Meaning is supposedly the whatever-nym for ACRONYM. You can see through this one, can’t you? 🙂
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AWS, I AFOCL and it’s AYF. AYCOOYM = As we speak, I Almost Fell Off the Chair Laughing and it’s All Your Fault. Are You Completely Out of Your Mind?
Salt & Pepper 