# Is there a word for an acronym that DOES spell a word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050 "2018-03-05T06:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/1 "2018-03-05T06:56:42Z")
I had always thought that an “acronym” was an abbreviation comprising the first letters of each of the words (or major words) to be subsumed under the abbreviation,–in cases where the abbreviation itself is a word (e.g., CAT for Canadian Association of Transportation))\_. I now find that dictionaries don’t impose this constraint on an acronym. Thus, for example, NAACP is an “acronym” even though “NAACP” is not a word. Is there a word for an acronym that DOES spell a word (and not acronyms that don’t)?? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/2 "2018-03-05T07:16:43Z")
> [@Steven\_Estes](#): > > I had always thought that an “acronym” was an abbreviation comprising the first letters of each of the words (or major words) to be subsumed under the abbreviation,–in cases where the abbreviation itself is a word (e.g., CAT for Canadian Association of Transportation))\_. > > I now find that dictionaries don’t impose this constraint on an acronym. Thus, for example, NAACP is an “acronym” even though “NAACP” is not a word. > > Is there a word for an acronym that DOES spell a word (and not acronyms that don’t)?? “Initialism” is NAACP and IBM. “Acronym” is, as you say sort of backwards, pronounceable as something other than letter names by anyone so inclined, so people who say “Nacap” would give you grief on the definition examples. Probably they’d be members of the US military. FWIW, Hebrew usage seems incapable of not acronyming anything under the sun, no matter how outlandish the phonemes seem to clash. I’m sure linguistics people have taken a swing at that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/3 "2018-03-05T07:24:46Z")
Nm mis-read ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/4 "2018-03-05T07:25:04Z")
ETA: Re your hed: Instead of “Dem’s fighting’ woids” I may now use “Those strike me as pelling words” (and I will relish the reduplication). Once a verb, it now lives in “pell-mell.” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/5 "2018-03-05T07:40:16Z")
> [@Steven\_Estes](#): > > … (e.g., CAT for Canadian Association of Transportation)) … Everyone I know agrees CAT is the Communications Authority of Thailand (or Caterpillar Inc). CAT’s 1544 service provides telephone service from the Land of Smiles™ to the Home of the Brave™ for about 2 or 3¢ per minute. (I think they also offer a similarly cheap service for the vice versa.) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/6 "2018-03-05T08:07:25Z")
The idea that an acronym must spell a word or be pronounced as other than a sequence of letters is something that anal-retentive nerds came up with. Your typical person doesn’t care about that. General usage is that any abbreviation made up of the inital letters of a multi-word term is an acronym. Dictionaries follow general usage. So there isn’t a word that the OP is asking about. The closest is when an abbreviation is chosen first (usually the same as a word that means something significant to the concept/thing/organization being named) and then the expansion is generated from that. Those are called **bacronyms**. Personally, I hate bacronyms. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/7 "2018-03-05T08:36:23Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Those are called **bacronyms**. Personally, I hate bacronyms. There are loads of these, worth looking into just to remind ourselves that we all can end up believing stuff that ain’t so. e.g. “SOS” didn’t stand for anything, it was originally just a distinctive and quickly transmitted series but was retrofitted to “save our souls” and similar “POSH” doesn’t stand for “port out, starboard home” it was never an acronym to start with. I was also surprised to hear a commentary on a London river taxi state confidently that “wharf” stood for “warehouse at river frontage”, utter nonsense of course. It is a very old word and acronyms in general were not widely used before the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/8 "2018-03-05T12:39:22Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The closest is when an abbreviation is chosen first (usually the same as a word that means something significant to the concept/thing/organization being named) and then the expansion is generated from that. Those are called **bacronyms**. Personally, I hate bacronyms. The one that always makes me cringe (for many reasons) is the act that passed Congress in 2001: the " **U** niting and **S** trengthening **A** merica by **P** roviding **A** ppropriate **T** ools **R** equired to **I** ntercept and **O** bstruct **T** errorism Act of 2001”, or the [USA PATRIOT Act.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/9 "2018-03-05T12:48:32Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > The one that always makes me cringe (for many reasons) is the act that passed Congress in 2001: the " **U** niting and **S** trengthening **A** merica by **P** roviding **A** ppropriate **T** ools **R** equired to **I** ntercept and **O** bstruct **T** errorism Act of 2001”, or the [USA PATRIOT Act.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act) There’s a slight distinction that this is a tortured or contrived acronym, but it was always an acronym. Strictly speaking a bacronym is something like SOS that was not short for anything originally. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/10 "2018-03-05T15:08:19Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The idea that an acronym must spell a word or be pronounced as other than a sequence of letters is something that anal-retentive nerds came up with. Your typical person doesn’t care about that. Do you have a cite for these claims? 😛 If there’s a useful—or at least a noticeable—distinction, it seems perfectly natural to me that there would be separate terminology. The problem is that not everyone makes that distinction. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym#Nomenclature): > [@](#): > > Although the word acronym is often used to refer to any abbreviation formed from initial letters, some dictionaries and usage commentators define acronym to mean an abbreviation that is pronounced as a word, in contrast to an initialism (or alphabetism)—an abbreviation formed from a string of initials (and possibly pronounced as individual letters). Some dictionaries include additional senses equating acronym with initialism. The distinction, when made, hinges on whether the abbreviation is pronounced as a word or as a string of individual letters. > … > The distinction is not well-maintained. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage: “A number of commentators … believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not. … Initialism, an older word than acronym, seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with acronym in a narrow sense.” About the use of acronym to only mean those pronounced as words, Fowler’s Modern English Usage (3rd ed.) states: “The limitations of the term being not widely known to the general public, acronym is also often applied to abbreviations that are familiar but are not pronounceable as words. … Such terms are also called initialisms.” > > A clearer distinction has also been drawn, by Pyles & Algeo (1970), who divided acronyms as a general category into _word acronyms_ pronounced as words, and _initialisms_ sounded out as letters. So perhaps “word acronym” fits what the OP is looking for, except that it’s not in common usage. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/11 "2018-03-05T15:12:26Z")
“You’re working for the Secure Homeland Initiative, Enforcement and Logistics Division. What does that mean to you?” “It means that someone really wanted our name to spell out ‘shield’.” Back to the OP, it seems to me that there are actually three different categories: Abbreviations which aren’t pronounceable as anything other than the letters, like NCAA and BMI Abbreviations which are pronounceable and form new words, like NASA and RADAR Abbreviations which form previously-existing words, like ἰχθύς or USA PATRIOT ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/12 "2018-03-05T16:50:43Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > There’s a slight distinction that this is a tortured or contrived acronym, but it was always an acronym. Strictly speaking a bacronym is something like SOS that was not short for anything originally. My favorite such word is “swag”. Somewhere along the way, someone decided that “swag” was actually an acronym as it related to conventions, standing for “Stuff We All Get”. You know, the little tchotchkes that they give out at booths, toys and knickknacks and pens and whatnot they give away to advertise something. The word “swag”, of course, way predates conventions. [Snopes even has a page on it](https://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/swag.asp). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelMixologyOS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@MichaelMixologyOS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelMixologyOS)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/13 "2018-03-05T17:15:10Z")
Ok is not short for Okay, another word people believed was an acronym, it was never a longer or different spelling. I’ve seen some people use periods after O. and K. Believing it stood for 2 words, spelled out as 4 letters by others, what would they stand for in general purpose? Ok being an agreement of acknowledgement, your thoughts or suggestions. I’m thinking officially keen… like if you were really hip to an idea or thought you would be ok, or officially keen to it! I think I’m officially keen to this ok acronym, you dig? Lol ---
**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:** [March 5, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/14 "2018-03-05T17:39:27Z")
OK is an acronym, one of the earliest in the English language. It stands for “Oll Korrect”, a deliberately-humorous misspelling of “All Correct”. “Okay” is just a phonetic rendition of the letters. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/15 "2018-03-05T17:47:42Z")
> [@MichaelMixologyOS](#): > > Ok is not short for Okay, another word people believed was an acronym, it was never a longer or different spelling. I’ve seen some people use periods after O. and K. Believing it stood for 2 words, spelled out as 4 letters by others, what would they stand for in general purpose? Ok being an agreement of acknowledgement, your thoughts or suggestions. The term “O.K.” originally **was** an acronym for the “eye-dialect” expression [“oll korrect” = “all correct”](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-word-ok-was-invented-175-years-ago-180953258/). People back in the 1830s were just as fond of slang initialisms as people today are, and “O.K.” was just one of several such popular abbreviations (some others that haven’t held up as well over time are “N.G.” for “no go”, i.e., “no way”, and “N.S.” for “nuff said” = “enough said”.) The nickname “Old Kinderhook” of contemporary politician (later President) Martin Van Buren helped perpetuate the use of “O.K.” and the subsequent folk etymologies about its derivation. > [@MichaelMixologyOS](#): > > I’m thinking officially keen… like if you were really hip to an idea or thought you would be ok, or officially keen to it! I think I’m officially keen to this ok acronym, you dig? Lol Well, I think you’re to be congratulated for coming up with a backronym version of this abbreviation that manages to be almost as ponderous and try-hard as the original expression! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/16 "2018-03-05T17:54:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK is an acronym, one of the earliest in the English language. It stands for “Oll Korrect”, a deliberately-humorous misspelling of “All Correct”. “Okay” is just a phonetic rendition of the letters. > [@Kimstu](#): > > The term “O.K.” originally **was** an acronym for the “eye-dialect” expression [“oll korrect” = “all correct”](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-word-ok-was-invented-175-years-ago-180953258/). See also The Straight Dope: [What does “OK” stand for?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/503/what-does-ok-stand-for/) Or, if you really want lots of detail, [OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word](https://www.amazon.com/OK-Improbable-Story-Americas-Greatest/dp/0199892539/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&dpID=51HoNXQDNGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/17 "2018-03-05T17:56:06Z")
> [@MichaelMixologyOS](#): > > Ok is not short for Okay, another word people believed was an acronym, it was never a longer or different spelling. I’ve seen some people use periods after O. and K. Believing it stood for 2 words, spelled out as 4 letters by others… Others have pointed out that it is in fact an acronym. But even if it were not, why do you think it is strange for it to be written either as “O.K.” or “okay”? What _would_ be strange would be for a single complete word “ok” to have that pronunciation, surely? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/18 "2018-03-05T19:43:04Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > There’s a slight distinction that this is a tortured or contrived acronym, but it was always an acronym. Strictly speaking a bacronym is something like SOS that was not short for anything originally. I disagree that it[USA PATRIOT Act] is not a bacronym. It’s most likely they came up with the name and then tortured the language to produce the expansion. That’s exactly what a bacronym is. It’s actually a somewhat common practice among lawmakers. No doubt they feel it increases the chances of the law being passed if they can come up with a nice feel-good name, even if the name has little to do with what the law actually does (this law being a case in point). > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do you have a cite for these claims? 😛 Personal observation. I’ll also observe that the SDMB has a greater than usual concentration of said anal-retentive nerds, so I expect to have lots of disagreement. 😛 back at you ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/19 "2018-03-06T00:48:51Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Personal observation. That and $1 will almost get you a cup of joe these days. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050/20 "2018-03-06T01:32:20Z")
More categories: [ul] [li]Pronounceable acronyms that became official words: like scuba and laser[/li][li]Unpronouncable acronyms that became words anyway: like okay and emcee.[/li][/ul] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-acronym-that-does-spell-a-word/810050.md?page=2)