# Acronyms that don't mean what most(/many/some) people \*think\* they mean. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2006, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834 "2006-08-08T08:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/21 "2006-08-08T15:04:23Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] see – clearly _another_ case of someone mistaking the real meaning. Only this timer it’s me. BNC _did_ make BNC cables in the 1960s and 1970s. Is it possible thwey took their name from the already-existing acronym? [/QUOTE] **Cal** , in all fairness, I had no clue what BNC stood for until just a few days ago, when I had to look for one in a catalog. BNC has also been (mis)used to stand for Bayonet Nut Connector, British Naval Connector, and a handful of other things. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/22 "2006-08-08T15:26:27Z")
German industrial giant I. G. Farben is often thought of as referring to the founder’s name (like “F. W. Woolworth”). It’s actually an abbreviation for “Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG.” “NCR paper” is supposedly an acronym for “non-carbon repeating paper.” Maybe it is now, but originally it referred to the inventor and manufacturer: NCR Corp. “NCR” in this case meant “National Cash Register.” ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/23 "2006-08-08T15:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Also, FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Repair JANFU - Joint Army-Navy Fuck Up [/QUOTE] The way it works is **SNAFU** goes down hill and becomes **TARFU** (things are really fucked up) which leads to **FUBAR** (fucked up beyond all **recognition** ). Any of these conditons can be caused by a JANFU, or any other act by the brass or management ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/24 "2006-08-08T15:36:21Z")
> [@](#): > > “NCR paper” is supposedly an acronym for “non-carbon repeating paper.” Maybe it is now, but originally it referred to the inventor and manufacturer: NCR Corp. “NCR” in this case meant “National Cash Register.” I remember when they showcased that stuff at the NCR pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair! The wonders on microencapsulation! (They also has paper with microencapsulated perfume. You scratched or crush it and you got the scent). So I always knew what NCR stood for. I had no idea people took it for anything else. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/25 "2006-08-08T15:42:53Z")
> [@](#): > > “NCR paper” is supposedly an acronym for “non-carbon repeating paper.” Maybe it is now, but originally it referred to the inventor and manufacturer: NCR Corp. “NCR” in this case meant “National Cash Register.” I remember when they showcased that stuff at the NCR pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair! The wonders on microencapsulation! (They also has paper with microencapsulated perfume. You scratched or crush it and you got the scent). So I always knew what NCR stood for. I had no idea people took it for anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/26 "2006-08-08T15:45:58Z")
There were once three radar masts, which provided bearing, range, and tracking for potential targets for an army missile system. The array became know as the **BRT**. Over three generations of missile system, the acronym was applied to whatever system was installed to provide the same information. With the advent of radar transparent materials, most radar arrays were enclosed in geodesic domes of nylon and fiber glass. The buildings assumed the same identifying acronym, although it now usually housed communications and control electronics as well as radar gear. Still it was called the **BRT**. One inspector from the Department of the Army asked relentlessly what the various acronyms used stood for. When he was directed to the **BRT** by a National Guard PFC sentry, he asked, “What does **BRT** stand for?” With an absolutely straight face, the PFC answered, “It’s the Big Round Thing, sir.” I am not even sure if the story is true, but I loved it. We routinely referred to our radar building as the Big Round Thing. Also, the largest of the cargo planes, the C5A, I believe are referred to as **BUFF** s. The acronym stands for Big Ugly Fat Fucker. Tris ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/27 "2006-08-08T15:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I remember when they showcased that stuff at the NCR pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair! The wonders on microencapsulation! (They also has paper with microencapsulated perfume. You scratched or crush it and you got the scent). So I always knew what NCR stood for. I had no idea people took it for anything else. [/QUOTE] This is what I’d refer to as a non-carbon repeating post. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/28 "2006-08-08T16:07:12Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Also, the largest of the cargo planes, the C5A, I believe are referred to as **BUFF** s. The acronym stands for Big Ugly Fat Fucker. [/QUOTE] AFAIK, BUFF has always referred to the B-52. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/29 "2006-08-08T16:31:51Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] see – clearly _another_ case of someone mistaking the real meaning. Only this timer it’s me. BNC _did_ make BNC cables in the 1960s and 1970s. Is it possible thwey took their name from the already-existing acronym? [/QUOTE] And I always thought BNC stood for British Naval Connector. Live and learn… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/30 "2006-08-08T16:39:18Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I remember when they showcased that stuff at the NCR pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair! The wonders on microencapsulation! (They also has paper with microencapsulated perfume. You scratched or crush it and you got the scent). So I always knew what NCR stood for. I had no idea people took it for anything else. [/QUOTE] Well, old folks like us remember, but those damn kids . . . . . I think also that now that other companies manufacture it, they don’t like to mention a competitor when they talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/31 "2006-08-08T21:38:38Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Also, the largest of the cargo planes, the C5A, I believe are referred to as **BUFF** s. The acronym stands for Big Ugly Fat Fucker. Tris [/QUOTE] Whilst serving in Vietnam, my father happened upon a set of ceramic elephant sculptures (similar to [this](http://www.southeastasianart.com/media/cer.ele.wht.jpg), but brightly painted). These had become quite the rage among the officers in his unit, who were buying them up and shipping them home to their families. We had a set of 4 (each about 30 inches high and pretty heavy) that went with us each time we moved, and two of them still survive to this day. Throughout my childhood, my brother and sisters and I innocently refered to them as “buffys” – which is what my parents always called them. We were collectively horrified and shattered last year when our parents revealed to us the dark, forbidden truth they had been hiding from us for all these years. That the name bestowed upon these quaint exotic artifacts was not, properly rendered, “buffy”. It was “B.U.F.F.E.” – an acronym that stood for “Big Ugly Fat Fucking Elephant.” No doubt named in reference to the aforementioned planes. No words can adequately express the trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/32 "2006-08-10T19:03:49Z")
GED: General Education Diploma, right? Nope, it’s General Educational Development. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/33 "2006-08-10T19:10:37Z")
> [@](#): > > GED: General Education Diploma, right? > > Nope, it’s General Educational Development. Bity, am I off. I never heard what it was really supposed to be, and assumed it was something like Graduate Equivalence Diploma. ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/34 "2006-08-10T19:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=Myron Van Horowitzski] GED: General Education Diploma, right? Nope, it’s General Educational Development. [/QUOTE] Huh, I always thought it was General Equivalency Diploma. Learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/35 "2006-08-10T20:05:57Z")
[QUOTE=jmasterson] Help me out please…, in **General Questions** , llRl and AFAlK were often used in the topic “why is the movie The Wizard of Oz associated with gay culture?” What do those acronyms mean? I’m new at this. Thanks! [/QUOTE] I think you might mean IIRC, which is If I Recall/Remember Correctly. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/36 "2006-08-10T21:18:36Z")
Fun with acronyms! Although, I guess if they are pronounced as a word rather than as a series of letters, technically they are called initialisms. Anyhoo, I ran into a few fun ones just yesterday: A colleague referred to subject matter experts and our director picked up on the idea and went ahead and used the acronym-- SMEs (“smees”). I am tickled that I may get to be a smee. And I don’t know much technical stuff but I was reading a manual yesterday that referred to PL/SQL BLOBs and PL/SQL CLOBs. I can’t wait to find out what those are all about! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/37 "2006-08-10T21:48:45Z")
I’ve run across several people who thought that CINC stood for “Commander In Charge” or “Chief in Charge,” when it’s actually “Commander-In-Chief.” Other than that, I’ve got nuthin’. 🙂 Except that people always think my company’s name is an acronym, but it isn’t (the letters are the first initials of the founders’ last names). ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/38 "2006-08-10T21:49:58Z")
PL/SQL is Oracle’s **P** rocedural **L** anguage extensions for SQL ( **S** tructured **Q** uery **L** anguage) A BLOB is a **B** inary **L** arge **OB** ject and a CLOB is a **C** haracter **L** arge **OB** ject. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/39 "2006-08-10T21:55:54Z")
We’re all familar with the insurance co with the amphibious spokes lizard? GEICo stands for Government Employees’ Insurance Company. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834/40 "2006-08-10T23:44:17Z")
I don’t how often people thing about the acronym **VGA** , but I bet if they do, they assume it stands for “Video Graphics Adapter”. In fact, it stands for “Video Graphics Array”. (Note that the A in CGA, EGA and MCGA did, in fact, stand for “adapater”. Go figure.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-mean-what-most-many-some-people-think-they-mean/367834.md?page=3)