Backronym Explained

A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym.

A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase,[1] such as radar from "radio detection and ranging".[2] By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin".[3] Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the James Bond franchise.

For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996.[4] Officials later publicized the backronym "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response".[5]

Examples

An example of a backronym as 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. 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.[6] Another example is the American Contract Bridge League's tools to address cheating in online bridge games. EDGAR was originally named for Edgar Kaplan, whose many contributions to the game included groundbreaking efforts to reduce illegal partnership communication. The new EDGAR tools expected to debut in early 2024 have been launched with the backronym "everyone deserves a game above reproach".[7]

Many United States Congress bills have backronyms as their names; examples include the American CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) of 2020,[8] [9] the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) of 2001, and the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act).[10] In the 113th Congress (2013) there were over 240 bills with such names.[11]

As false etymologies

Sometimes a backronym is reputed to have been used in the formation of the original word, and amounts to a false etymology or an urban legend. Acronyms were rare in the English language before the 1930s, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false.[12]

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 19th-century first-class cabins on ocean liners, which were shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east (e.g. from Britain to India) and homeward voyages west.[13] The word's actual etymology is unknown, but more likely related to Romani Romany: påš xåra ('half-penny') or to Urdu (borrowed from Persian) Urdu: safed-pōśh ('white robes'), a term for wealthy people.[14]

Another example is the word chav, which is a derogatory term for a working-class youth. This word is probably of Romani origin[15] but commonly believed to be a backronym of "council-housed and violent".[16]

Similarly, the distress signal SOS is often believed to be an abbreviation for "save our ship" or "save our souls" but was chosen because it has a simple and unmistakable Morse code representation three dots, three dashes, and three dots, sent without any pauses between characters.[17]

More recent examples include the brand name Adidas, named after company founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler but falsely believed to be an acronym for "all day I dream about sport";[18] The word Wiki, said to stand for "what I know is",[19] but in fact derived from the Hawaiian phrase wiki-wiki meaning 'fast';[20] 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" (taken from Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels).[21] The distress call "pan-pan" is commonly stated to mean "possible assistance needed", whereas it is in fact derived from the French word panne, meaning 'breakdown'.[22]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Acronym . Dictionary.com . 2006-11-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20061028021324/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Acronym. 28 October 2006 . live.
  2. Web site: RADAR means: Radio Detection and Ranging . https://archive.today/20040128164933/http://www.nasaexplores.com/show_k4_teacher_st.php?id=030703122033 . dead . 2004-01-28 . NASA . National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Nasa Explores .
  3. Web site: Backronym – Definition of backronym in English by Oxford Dictionaries. https://web.archive.org/web/20190301074616/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/backronym. dead. March 1, 2019. Oxford Dictionaries – English.
  4. Web site: AmberAdvocate.org: AMBER Alert history. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.amberadvocate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AMBER-Alert-History.pdf . 2022-10-09 . live.
  5. Web site: AMBER Alert – America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response . Amberalert.gov . 2007-11-01 . 2010-07-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20100727174209/http://www.amberalert.gov/. 27 July 2010 . live.
  6. Web site: The Virginia Apgar Papers - Obstetric Anesthesia and a Scorecard for Newborns, 1949-1958. U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH. 2008-11-18. 2009-01-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20090113173529/http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/CP/Views/Exhibit/narrative/obstetric.html. live.
  7. Web site: Official . ACBL . ACBL Battles Online Cheating with EDGAR . Bridge Winners . November 15, 2023 . 8 November 2023 . November 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231115195955/https://bridgewinners.com/article/view/acbl-battles-online-cheating-with-edgar/ . live .
  8. Web site: The CARES Act Works for All Americans . . 2020-10-02 . 2020-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001231924/https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares . live .
  9. Web site: McConnell. Mitch. 2020-06-03. S.3548 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): CARES Act. 2020-10-02. congress.gov. 2020-10-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20201002021327/https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548. live.
  10. Web site: The art of the 'backronym'. July 28, 2020. Roll Call. January 24, 2022. January 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220124065736/https://www.rollcall.com/2020/07/28/mitch-mcconnell-coronavirus-backronym/. live.
  11. Web site: All the Silly Legislative Acronyms Congress Came Up with This Year. Philip. Bump. August 2, 2013. The Atlantic. January 24, 2022. January 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220124065736/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/08/congress-acronyms-reins/312565/. live.
  12. Book: Sheidlower . Jesse . Jesse Sheidlower . . New York . Oxford University Press US . 2009 . 978-0-19-539311-8.
  13. Book: Quinion, Michael. Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths. Penguin . 0-14-101223-4. 2005.
    published in the US asBook: Quinion, Michael. Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds. 2006. HarperCollins. 0-06-085153-8. registration.
  14. 2009 . posh, adj. and n. . Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford University Press . Oxford.
  15. 2023 . chav . Wiktionary . The Wikimedia Foundation.
  16. News: Bennett . Joe . Everything you ever wanted to know about the word 'chav' . Ideas Lab Predictor Podcast, University of Birmingham . 30 April 2012 . 2023-10-13 . 2023-09-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230929171150/https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/accessibility/transcripts/dr-joe-bennett-chav.aspx . live .
  17. News: Rohrer . Finlo . Save our SOS . BBC News Magazine . 13 June 2008 . 2012-07-10 . 2012-12-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121202172820/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7444184.stm . live .
  18. Book: Brunner . Conrad . All Day I Dream About Sport: The Story of the Adidas Brand . 2004 . Cyan . London . 1-904879-12-8 . Great Brand Stories.
  19. News: The wiki principle. The Economist. 2006-11-15. 2006-04-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20061007095842/http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6794228. 7 October 2006 . live.
  20. wiki . Dictionary.com. 2006-11-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20061206015347/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiki. 6 December 2006 . live.
  21. Web site: The History of Yahoo! - How It All Started... . 2001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011129061649/http://docs.yahoo.com/info/misc/history.html . 29 November 2001 . Yahoo . 8 November 2015.
  22. News: Green . Eli . 18 January 2023 . Qantas flight QF144 lands safely at Sydney Airport after midair mayday call . news.com.au . 18 January 2023 . 18 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230118061647/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/fears-for-flight-after-mayday-called-for-qantas-flight-auckland-to-sydney/news-story/82bab4c70582ba4f7e7af0a8058fcbc2 . live .

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