# Is there a term for a back-engineered acronym? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584 "2001-01-24T18:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/1 "2001-01-24T18:18:53Z")
I saw this question on another board, and it could be that there is no special word. Let’s say someone comes up with a buzz-word for something, then retrofits words into the letters to try to make it meaningful for the abbreviation. You see them a lot at sporting events. (Like a Cowboys/Redskins game on CBS, some chucklehead is holding a sign that seat “Cowboys Beat Skins”) Some examples from real life: PR/SM (prounounced “prism”): a product by a major computer manufacturer allowing multiple operating systems on one mainframe box (not absolutely correct, but you see the point) WIN: (from the 70s) Whip Inflation Now COYOTE: Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (a hooker organization) \*SHADO: Supreme Headquarters, Alien Defense Organization (And some from my work) RESPECT: (Trust me–it’s awful) SACRED: (That’s even worse) SMILE: Smiles make it [a] little easier OK, you see what I mean. Is there such a word? “Retrogram” would be a good one. If it ever catches on, you heard it hear first (or at least, independently). \*OK, not exactly real life, but I’d bet that Gerry Anderson started with “Shadow,” then worked in words to fit it. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/2 "2001-01-24T18:56:43Z")
The Jargon File aka jargon.txt aka New Hackers’ Dictionary refers to such a formation as a “backronym”, which works pretty well. Some other ones, mostly from the Jargon file : BASIC - Beginners’ All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code MUNG - mung until no good CYGNUS - Cygnus, Your GNU support FORD - Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily EMACS - EMACS Makes A Computer Slow, Eventually Mallocs All Computer Storage, Esc-Meta-Alt-Ctrl-Shift ---
**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:** [January 24, 2001, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/3 "2001-01-24T19:03:02Z")
The book “Family Words” that I cited in another thread suggests “backronym” for such an acronym in which the words are made to fit the pre-chosen acronym. It’s not an “official” term, of course. My favorite backronym is “MOBY-DIC” for a robot fish-tracker . (Motorized Observation Biotelemetry Yacht- Data Integration and Control) Is there a term for a non-acronym? A case, that is, where they have an acronym all picked out – and which they use – but for which no one was clever enough to figure out a set of words to fit to it? I know of one such case – At Cornell University they have CESR, the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. Occasionally they siphon off electrons from this an collide them with positrons in an electron-positron annihilation chamber and detector called CLEO. CLEO is obviously the mate to CESR, but it doesn’t stand for anything. My guess is that they chose CLEO rather than PORTIA because it had that “C” they could use for “Cornell”, but that’s as far as they got. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/4 "2001-01-24T19:29:03Z")
it’s a _bacronym_, silly! My favorite is TWAIN, as in the scanner protocol: Technology Without An Interesting Name ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/5 "2001-01-24T19:31:25Z")
Oops! Sorry, Cal! Can’t even claim it was a simulpost, I just missed that sentence in your posting. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/6 "2001-01-24T19:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > **…WIN: (from the 70s) Whip Inflation Now…** I remember these buttons - some people wore them upside-down: **NIM** : No Immediate Miracles ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/7 "2001-01-24T19:39:47Z")
I think technically they are still acronyms (though I like backronym). Many acronyms are formed specifically for this reason. And your “Cowboys Beat Skins” example is more formally called an _initialism_ since CBS is not a word. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/8 "2001-01-24T19:43:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panamajack \* > \*\*…FORD - Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily… > \*\* **F** \*cking **O** ld **R** ebuild **D** odge ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/9 "2001-01-24T19:44:47Z")
Oh, then there are _recursive acronyms_, acronyms that refer to themselves. The Jargon File gives these examples: EINE (EINE Is Not EMACS), ZWEI (ZWEI Was EINE Initially), and GNU (GNU’s Not Unix). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/10 "2001-01-24T19:52:21Z")
“Erm, I think we’re all beginning to lose sight of the real issue here, which is: what are we going to call ourselves? And I think it comes down to a choice between ‘The League Against Salivating Monsters’, or – and this is my personal preference – ‘The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society’. Erm, one drawback with that – the abbreviation is C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S.” ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/11 "2001-01-24T19:54:40Z")
Me again. Now that I’ve actually read the Jargon File’s definition of _backronym_, I don’t think it fits. [quote] A word interpreted as an acronym that was not originally so intended.\* This is different than what **Mjollnir** was asking, which is a term for a word that _is intended_ to be an acronym and where the acronym was the starting point rather than then ending point. A _backronym_ was not origiinally meant to be an acronym, but people have interpretted it that way (usually facetiously). I don’t think there is a term for this. **Mjollnir** suggested _retrogram_, but I think \*retronym[/] would be more in keeping with the terminology. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/12 "2001-01-24T19:58:40Z")
Apart from my vB coding errors, spelling mistakes, and the fact that _retronym_ is already a term meaning something else, not a bad post. :rolleyes: I think I should stop posting in this thread for a while. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/13 "2001-01-24T20:02:28Z")
I was just going to say I had always heard the term “retronym” used when the “acronym” was developed first _then_ it was decided what the letters stood for. And for weird acronyms… A group I am part of actually had a position “Co-Leader In Training” or CLIT. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/14 "2001-01-24T20:12:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tanstaafl \* > **I was just going to say I had always heard the term “retronym” used when the “acronym” was developed first _then_ it was decided what the letters stood for.** It’s Mr./Ms. Acronym himself/herself! _Retronym_ is actually: > [@](#): > > A word or phrase created because an existing term that was once used alone needs to be distinguished from a term referring to a new development, as _acoustic guitar_ in contrast to _electric guitar_ or _analog watch_ in contrast to _digital watch_. (So I lied about not posting in this thread for a while.) ---
**Author:** ![etgaw1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@etgaw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etgaw1)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/15 "2001-01-24T21:53:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*“Erm, I think we’re all beginning to lose sight of the real issue here, which is: what are we going to call ourselves? And I think it comes down to a choice between ‘The League Against Salivating Monsters’, or – and this is my personal preference – ‘The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society’. Erm, one drawback with that – the abbreviation is C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S.” \*\* Nice Red Dwarf Reference 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![markle9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markle9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markle9)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/16 "2001-01-24T23:45:54Z")
I really like Bacronym, but if you’re looking for something else, howabout “Mynorca”? If nothing else, it sounds like a little Greek island… Markle9 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/17 "2001-01-25T00:15:30Z")
How about self-referential backronyms like the above mentioned MUNG or PINE (Pine Is Not Elm)? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/18 "2001-01-25T06:58:20Z")
Um, according to the readme file that comes with PINE, it’s “ **P** rogram for **I** nternet **N** ews and **E** mail”. And for other great acronyms, there’s always INTERCAL ( **C** omputer **L** anguage with **N** o **P** ronounceable **A** cronym), or from Dilbert, The TTP Project, which, of course, stands for “ **T** he **T** TP **P** roject”. ---
**Author:** ![Bboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bboy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/19 "2001-02-11T08:23:42Z")
I am willing to bet that the majority of acronyms are developed in just this way. Think about it. Its about a thousand times harder to stumble upon a string of words that coincidentally spell out something with their initials. Most acronyms are built to serve an agenda, no? I have one that I am trying to get published in my local paper, so far with no success. There is a story to go along with it so if you don’t mind…I’ll expound: [acronymic rant and explanatory story deleted] I’ll let you decypher. Thanks again for letting me rant. [Edited by Chronos on 02-11-2001 at 01:59 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584/20 "2001-02-11T11:14:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff \* > \*\*The following acronym is an open letter to my ex upon the conclusion of my child support obligation: > > Take Heed Enemy, For Regular Ensuing Economic Reinforcement Is Definitely Ended. Ignorant, Selfish Overspending Voraciously Exacts Reform. Bankruptcy Is Trump Card, However, System Only Grants One Fair Usage. Can’t Keep Your Own Useless Rear Solvent? Endure Lasting Failure. > > I’ll let you decypher. > Thanks again for letting me rant. \*\* You kind of lost me at “useless rear solvent.” The actual meaning took a while to dawn on me. I was trying to wrap my brain around the notion of a solvent used on the rear when I realized I was reading it the wrong way. If the rear solvent you have purchased is useless, go to the store and demand your money back, and purchase a different brand of rear solvent. Don’t use other kinds of solvent when only rear solvent will do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-a-back-engineered-acronym/51584.md?page=2)