# Mfgrs.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352 "2012-01-23T01:00:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bwittersheim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@bwittersheim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwittersheim)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/1 "2012-01-23T01:00:44Z")

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What is the story behind the abbreviation “mfgrs?” It’s the G that I don’t get, is it somehow supposed to be short for “manufacturing-ers?” Does it represent some archaic word?

Thanks -BW

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/2 "2012-01-23T02:40:56Z")

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I think the sequence is something like this:

mfg came from manufacturing; its existence meant that some people started using it for manufacturer as well; but having a g in the abbreviation without one in the word bothered people, so they added an r to make it mfgr.

Could they have just switched to mfr? Sure, but the language doesn’t always work logically and adding on to an established term sometimes works better than creating a new term.

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**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/3 "2012-01-23T08:15:02Z")

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Does MFR mean anything else? I was thinking maybe the reason they left the g in was without it, it would be an abbreviation for something else.

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/4 "2012-01-23T09:02:20Z")

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Most three-letter acronyms stand for something:

> **[MFR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MFR)**
>
> MFR may refer to:

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**Author:** ![bwittersheim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@bwittersheim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwittersheim)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/5 "2012-01-23T16:42:16Z")

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> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> Most three-letter acronyms stand for something:
> 
> [MFR - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MFR)

Let’s not confuse the issue more, please. We’re talking about abbreviations, not acronyms.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/6 "2012-01-23T17:28:27Z")

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> [@BeaMyra](#):
>
> Does MFR mean anything else? I was thinking maybe the reason they left the g in was without it, it would be an abbreviation for something else.

Sure – motherfucker.

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**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/7 "2012-01-23T17:32:18Z")

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Actually MFG started out in West Virginia, miles fer gallon.

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mfgrs/610352/8 "2012-01-24T01:43:26Z")

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The terms “acronym” and “abbreviation” are not as clearly distinct as you think they are, bwittersheim:

> **[Acronym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym_and_initialism)**
>
> An acronym is a word or name consisting of parts of the full name's words.
> Initialisms or alphabetisms are acronyms formed from the string of initials which are usually pronounced as individual letters, as in the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation).\[a\] But acronyms sometimes use syllables instead, as in Benelux (short for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), NAPOCOR (National Power Corporation), and TRANSCO (National Transmission Corporation). They can also be a mixture, as in radar (R