# Acronyms that don't stand for anything anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982 "2011-03-08T23:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/81 "2011-03-11T12:34:13Z")
I always thought ISO stood for “International Standards Organisation”, so it’s been interesting to learn that A) It doesn’t and B) It’s not really supposed to stand for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/82 "2011-03-11T12:39:33Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > This statement intrigued me, but I can’t seem to find any information about it. Do you have a source? I’m a little skeptical that SAS “forgot to protect the name.” That doesn’t seem to quite fit into the way that trademark law works. Sorry, it was many years since I read it and they didn’t really forget. They just didn’t think it was necessary according to the story. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I always thought ISO stood for “International Standards Organisation”, so it’s been interesting to learn that A) It doesn’t and B) It’s not really supposed to stand for anything. So did I. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/83 "2011-03-11T13:14:27Z")
More programming: SOAP - used to be Simple Object Access Protocol. They no longer make any claims to it being simple 🙂 We’ve had laser, did we also have scuba and sonar? And I wonder if backronyms count? If you look at crap ones like ISIS – Integrated Sensor Is Structure – it’s pretty clear that the unabbreviated form is unlikely to catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/84 "2011-03-11T13:35:40Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Sorry, it was many years since I read it and they didn’t really forget. They just didn’t think it was necessary according to the story. That’s why I was hoping for more detail. Because at the time they made that decision, they might have been right. I can’t really figure out why SAS the software company would have any reasonable argument that its reach stretches into the hotel market, especially considering that the initials “SAS” are hardly unique. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/85 "2011-03-11T16:35:39Z")
The National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) changed its name to The International Justice & Public Safety Newtork. Because IJPSN is a crappy acronym, they kept the acronym NLETS, which now doesn’t stand for anything. [www.nlets.org](http://www.nlets.org) ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/86 "2011-03-11T17:03:48Z")
I have my own I use for EBCDIC - Every Bit of Crap the Dicks at IBM Created. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/87 "2011-03-11T17:15:52Z")
SPIE is a big scientific organization in optics and photonics. The letters used to stand for the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers. They later changed the DBA name to The International Society for Optical Engineering but now call themselves simply SPIE. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/88 "2011-03-11T17:26:55Z")
CTIA-The Wireless Association no longer uses the name Cellular Telephone Industries Association. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/89 "2011-03-11T18:23:54Z")
Just guesses, the explosive T.N.T. and the company I.B.M. ? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/90 "2011-03-11T19:21:01Z")
I think I.B.M. still stands for International Business Machines. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/91 "2011-03-11T19:22:47Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Just guesses, the explosive T.N.T. and the company I.B.M. ? As mentioned above, International Business Machines Corp. is still the official name of the company. As for T.N.T. – assuming you’re talking about the explosive, it’s not the proper name of anything, and presumably it still stands for trinitrotoluene, but full chemical names like that usually only appear in technical usages, anyway. So I wouldn’t consider it orphaned. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/92 "2011-03-11T19:42:23Z")
Has anyone here mentioned “OK” yet? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/93 "2011-03-11T19:44:55Z")
I’m not sure it counts. The concept of orphaned initialism only really makes sense when the initialism is a property name and someone has the actual authority to declare what it does or doesn’t stand for. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/94 "2011-09-08T10:33:03Z")
I just thought of MTV, and had to add it here. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/95 "2011-09-08T11:11:57Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Scuba? Nah. SCUBA was never “owned” by anyone IIRC. It stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/96 "2011-09-08T11:42:47Z")
How about PCMCIA, those credit card sized slots on laptops from about 10 years ago. I think that stood for “People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/97 "2011-09-08T11:45:14Z")
Niptick. Most of the examples here are abbreviations, not acronyms. It is only an acronym if the abbreviation forms a word that can be said aloud. Scuba, Radar, Laser, Basic, Twain - acronyms BP, MTV, IEEE, USB, BASF, IBM - abbreviations ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/98 "2011-09-08T12:23:34Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > And you forgot CIBC, formerly the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. > > For the Bank of Montréal, there was a debate in the early 1990s about getting rid of the city name because it didn’t sound, uh, Canadian enough. They were supposed to rename it First Canadian Bank… but there was no way to make a French version of that name. So eventually they just went with their ticker symbol, BMO. > … Um, what about Première Banque du Canada? Though, we do have a bank down here called “First Premier Bank”. I’d hate to see THAT translated to French - Banque Première et Première? ---
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/99 "2011-09-08T12:25:33Z")
BASF, a German chemical company…I used to buy their cassette tapes (blank). A college friend’s mother worked for them… Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982/100 "2011-09-08T12:41:50Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > Niptick. > > Most of the examples here are abbreviations, not acronyms. It is only an acronym if the abbreviation forms a word that can be said aloud. > > Scuba, Radar, Laser, Basic, Twain - acronyms > BP, MTV, IEEE, USB, BASF, IBM - abbreviations True, but what muddies the waters is that acronyms are not necessarily lower or mixed case as you’ve written them. So OPEC and UNESCO are generally considered acronyms. Is SQL an acronym or an abbreviation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acronyms-that-dont-stand-for-anything-anymore/573982.md?page=6)