laser!
I nominate:
GMC
GMAC
IBM
GMC is a good one! I think it means General Motors Commerical, as in commercial vehicles. These days, however, GMC’s are consumer vehicles, and the commercial vehicles have Chevrolet badges!
SAT used to be Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, but now is the SAT Reasoning Test and since 1993, the letters SAT haven’t stood for anything.
I thought it was General Motors Coach.
Officially, but you’d be hard pressed to see them used in anywhere but the fine print on legal documents. GM does seem to use it, but GE always refers to itself and its brands as GE in all advertising.
I agree. Just because many people do not know what an acronym stands for does not mean it does not stand for anything.
Doesn’t it still stand for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers? (And if not, why not? Has the organization’s mission shifted or broadened significantly beyond supporting the professional interests of electrical and electronics engineers?)
No longer true-the official company line is that it once again stands for “Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Cite.
Exxon is a distant echo of Standard Oil --> SO --> Esso.
LG really wants folks to forget they used to be Lucky / GoldStar.
It still is the National Westminster Bank; it’s just better known by its abbreviated name. Another example of this is the ruling Conservative Party; its full and official name registered with the Electoral Commission is actually the Conservative and Unionist Party.
GSN used to be the Game Show Network. But they apparently didn’t want to be tied down to such a niche genre… which basically means they can show high stakes poker (which is a show about a game, but isn’t technically a game show).
A lot of United Nations agencies go through this kind of thing, I believe. There’s an agency called UN/CEFACT whose long form name is the U.N. Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. It was originally called the U.N. Center for Electronic Facilitation of Administration, Commerce, and Transportation.
I think it’s because when the Pittsburgh National Corp. and the Provident National Corp. (of Philadelphia) merged, “PNC” allowed them to avoid using a Pittsburgh name for its Philadelphia customers and vice versa.
IBM is definitely not orphaned. It still appears as International Business Machines Corp. in formal and legal contexts, although the Associated Press stylebook allows for “IBM” on first reference.
I don’t follow your line of reasoning here about the British…?
Hm! I was sure that they’d formally adopted “NatWest” as their legal name; but you’re absolutely right, they didn’t. D’oh! :smack:
What about the “WWF”? Used to be the “World Wildlife Fund”, but now I believe they’re the “Worldwide Fund for Nature”.
HSBC was founded in 1865 in London as the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., a time when the terms “Hongkong” and “Shanghai” carried positive and intriguing suggestions for the British public. It remains a London-based bank, but its British public probably doesn’t have the same feelings about the terms “Hongkong” and “Shanghai” that were extant in 1865.
I was under the impression that it was founded in the Far East. Wikipedia agrees with me. (The name “Banking Corporation” certainly doesn’t sound British.)
I think it only became London-based when they took over the old Midland Bank.
Incidentally, there’s been talk in the news here recently that they’re considering moving their headquarters to Hong Kong.
Regardless, you get the point. It was founded by British people for (at least some proportion of) British customers.
Could be. I checked the Wikipedia page for GMC, but it doesn’t say what the initials mean.
SAP - started as German, was reverse engineered to an English version, now doesn’t stand for anything.
Well, the Wikipedia page does say that it was originally the General Motors Truck Co., and this gave way to GMC Truck. So, it seems to me that the C is for company.