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An acronym is a word created from the initial letters of a phrase: for example, ''Random Access Memory'' becomes ''RAM'', pronounced as the word "ram". Note the distinction between acronyms and Initialisms : strictly speaking, one uses the term ''acronym'' only when the initials are pronounced as if they compose an ''actual word''. DETAILS A backronym is created when one constructs a phrase that has as its acronym an existing short word. There are both official and generally serious, as well as unofficial and often humorous backronyms. When a backronym is peddled as the origin of a word, it is often an example of False Etymology ; when widely believed, it may have the status of a Folk Etymology ; but more usually it is intended and understood as a joke. TYPES A pure backronym occurs when a sequence of letters is commonly understood to stand for a phrase that had no role in its original conception. Examples are:-
Some backronyms are Back-formed by replacing one or more words in an acronym with another, when the original meaning is deemed obsolete or inaccurate. For example, DVD originally stood for "digital video disc"; when it was noted that DVDs can store any digital data - video or otherwise - the term "digital versatile disc" was substituted. {Link without Title} (Because no agreement was reached about the various possibilities, ''DVD'' now officially stands for nothing.) Other examples are:-
Other backronyms are back-formed from an existing word that was not previously an acronym. Generally these 'backronyms' are . There are also false backronyms, in which letters are commonly, but inaccurately, thought to represent a phrase. Examples are:-
Moral conservatives in the US created backronyms for famous Heavy Metal bands that attempt to allude at "evil" or Satanic content and perhaps that such meaning was originally intended by the musicians. Examples include:-
Some 'backronyms' are Recursive Acronym s like GNU , PHP or the Pseudo-acronym JINI . Other backronyms are constructed so that the expanded name will match a desired acronym. For instance, the USA PATRIOT Act ("Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act") was allegedly constructed to match the desired USA PATRIOT acronym by government staffers in the days following the September 11, 2001, attacks on America, although this has been officially denied. Another popular backronym is from the computer game Doom, in which the really big gun is called a BFG, which came to stand as "Big Fucking Gun" (or "Big Friendly Gun") and in the movie adaptation: "Bio Force Gun." Some backronyms exploit the bewildering acronyms in the corporate world. For example:-
Another example is the Field Ration Eating Device (FRED), a small, versatile eating tool given to members of the Australian infantry, which is popularly believed to stand for "Fucking Ridiculous Eating Device". Or similarly:-
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