# Major acronym fail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631 "2019-03-27T20:55:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/21 "2019-03-28T15:58:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t really think it’s up to you to declare this “not cool” for an Indian group to avoid what to them is in their daily lives not only a common word, but a religiously positive one. It’s not just “up to me”. A cursory reading of the linked Retraction Watch article would tell you that this research group published in an international journal and is (supposedly) trying to gain credibility for their research in the “materials science community”. They didn’t name themselves “SWASTIK” in order to conduct religious ceremonies in India. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/22 "2019-03-28T16:16:44Z")
I went to Palmetto Middle School, where PMS was all over everything. (And then there is nearby Furman University…) > [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s not just “up to me”. > > A cursory reading of the linked Retraction Watch article would tell you that this research group published in an international journal and is (supposedly) trying to gain credibility for their research in the “materials science community”. They didn’t name themselves “SWASTIK” in order to conduct religious ceremonies in India. Wait–you weren’t being humerous about the “not cool?” To quote [this](https://theoutline.com/post/6998/buddhist-temple-swastika-japan-maps-olympics-2020?zd=2&zi=dp6drjck) article: > [@](#): > > Logically speaking it’s not right for the West to appropriate the symbol, defile it, and then claim that the East can’t use it Gotta say, that (Retraction Watch and you) is some serious whitesplaining. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/23 "2019-03-28T16:19:44Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Wait–you weren’t being humerous Just ribbing you. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/24 "2019-03-28T16:30:31Z")
Years ago I served on my school’s technology team, and our principal called me and our school’s tech guy to the office. She’d heard about a program at a different school, SWAT, or Students Who Assist with Technology. She thought it was a great idea, but it was at a middle school, and we were an elementary school. Could we have something similar, only teachers instead of students? The tech guy and I glanced at each other and then quickly away, to stifle our giggles and save our jobs. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/25 "2019-03-28T16:35:17Z")
Vanderbilt University thought it was a good idea to name a research facility the [Institute for Software Integrated Systems](http://www.isis.vanderbilt.edu/). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/26 "2019-03-28T16:40:24Z")
It took George Mason University a week to realize they needed to change the name of the Antonin Scalia School of Law. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/27 "2019-03-28T16:40:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’m assuming the KKK piano method in your link plays everything in the key of C. > mmm > [@Chronos](#): > > Hey, the KKK Piano Method plays both kinds of music, C major and A minor! No matter how hard I squint at the screen, I’m still not getting this. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/28 "2019-03-28T16:43:43Z")
Years ago, someone in our small government safety agency thought it would be a fine idea to allow the staff to vote on proposed names for the new system intended to track the status of the agency’s commitments (such as deliverables). One of our more mischievous engineers made a winning suggestion, and thus for some time the agency’s most important business was entered into CHAOS, the Commitment Handling And Organization System. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/29 "2019-03-28T17:07:40Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Am I alone in thinking that Northern Virginia Gamers wasn’t an accident? Not sure about that one, but I’m sure a couple others were deliberate. Creative Oriental Crafts Kingdom and Biologically Appropriate Real Foods are not names that would organically (pardon the pun) occur. They’re virtually certain to have been bacronymed to attract attention. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/30 "2019-03-28T17:18:53Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > No matter how hard I squint at the screen, I’m still not getting this. Any help? White supremacy. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/31 "2019-03-28T17:29:35Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > No matter how hard I squint at the screen, I’m still not getting this. Any help? To elaborate on DPRK’s response: the key of C major (and, mostly, A minor) use only the white notes on the keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/32 "2019-03-28T18:19:56Z")
At some point the use of acronyms conveys less and less meaning. The letter combinations begin to overlap. I wish people would go back to words. At least you have a better chance of knowing what they are talking about. Is a RPG a Rocket Propelled Grenade or a Role Playing Game? Is PTO Paid Time Off or the Power Take Off on my tractor? Is an IED and Improvised Explosive Device or an Intermittent Explosive Disorder? Is a POS a Point Of Service system like those used in retail or a Piece Of Shit? They are often both. Is AMA the American Medical Association or Ask Me Anything? I have little hope. When I started work for a government contractor they gave me a three page handout of nothing but acronyms. And this is a non-military section of the government. Have you had a conversation with military personnel, or recently former military? You will begin to feel as if you are ESL, English as Second Language. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/33 "2019-03-28T21:22:52Z")
The U.S. military has had an assortment of weird and sometimes embarrassing acronyms. For quite a while before WWII the big cheese in charge of naval operations was the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, known as CINCUS (and pronounced sink-us). When Admiral Ernest King took over from Admiral Kimmel after Pearl Harbor, he lost no time in ditching that acronym in favor of COMINCH. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/34 "2019-03-29T00:12:27Z")
Canadian politicians don’t check these things often enough. **C** anadian **C** onservative **R** eform **A** lliance **P** arty. (Became the Canadian Alliance.) **S** t. **L** awrence **A** ction **P** lan. (Became St. Lawrence Vision 2000.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/35 "2019-03-29T01:23:56Z")
Last weekend I saw a young boy wearing a t-shirt. It had the Superman logo and the words “Super Hero In Training” in large lettering. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/36 "2019-03-29T02:30:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > They didn’t name themselves “SWASTIK” in order to conduct religious ceremonies in India. Sure, but the point is that the Sanskrit word “swastika/swastik” is still used positively in many contexts in India, and always has been. Using it as an acronym for an Indian research group is not intrinsically different from, say, an [American research group naming itself “Sales & Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Action, and Retention” or SOLAR](https://research.phoenix.edu/content/solar-research-group). As **Darren Garrison** pointed out, just because many westerners associate the Indian word and symbol exclusively with the Nazi _Hakenkreuz_ (which is the word Hitler himself always used for it, AFAICT) doesn’t mean that Indians have to. Personally, I think that the generic word for the Nazi symbol should be the Nazis’ own term _Hakenkreuz_, leaving the Sanskrit term (and other words such as fylfot, gammadion, Hermetic cross, etc.) to reference the other uses of the symbol. (We can also use the more precise transliteration “svastika” to emphasize that we’re not talking about the Nazi icon.) [/digression] ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/37 "2019-03-29T04:03:29Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Last weekend I saw a young boy wearing a t-shirt. It had the Superman logo and the words “Super Hero In Training” in large lettering. I work in IT. At least, that’s what I tell people, but it’s not technically true. The company I work for has a two-word name with the initials SH. The powers that be are adamant that my department is named **I** nformation **S** ervices. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/38 "2019-03-29T07:33:17Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Vanderbilt University thought it was a good idea to name a research facility the [Institute for Software Integrated Systems](http://www.isis.vanderbilt.edu/). To be fair, Vanderbilt ISIS was [founded in 1998](http://www.isis.vanderbilt.edu/node/3979), back when the name’s connotations weren’t “bloodthirsty and oppressive religious fanatics” but rather “[cool Ancient Egyptian goddess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis#Goddess_of_magic_and_wisdom)”. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/39 "2019-03-29T10:23:49Z")
With foreign language / English crossovers, the sky can rapidly become the limit: but I admit to a fondness for the local rail-and-bus undertaking of the canton of Ticino in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland – **F** errovie **A** utolinee **R** egionali **T** icinese – its vehicles accordingly proudly emblazoned “FART”. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631/40 "2019-03-29T12:14:10Z")
I had a friend who said he was one meeting away from getting it named the Financial Accounts Receivable Tracking System. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-acronym-fail/831631.md?page=3)