# Strained acronyms
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 13, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883 "2011-07-13T16:17:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/1 "2011-07-13T16:17:14Z")
Pet peeve of mine…people come up with the acronym-word they want first, then force the phrase to match. Here’s an example (altho’ not the worst I’ve seen…there will be more collected in this thread)
CAPTCHA (to play on the word ‘capture’) = “ **C** ompletely **A** utomated **P** ublic **T** uring test to tell **C** omputers and **H** umans **A** part”
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/2 "2011-07-13T16:20:09Z")
Many years ago, I founded CACA: The Committee to Abolish Contrived Acronyms.
Membership is free! Join us, won’t you?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/3 "2011-07-13T16:26:50Z")
TLA
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/4 "2011-07-13T16:47:09Z")
YAHOO (yes, the Internet site) actually stands for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”
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### Author:  [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/5 "2011-07-13T17:09:44Z")
the USA PATRIOT act: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism
silliness.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/6 "2011-07-13T17:31:37Z")
I’ll go ahead and mention them to get them out of the way. Making “acronyms” out of good old Anglo-Saxon 4-letter cuss words that date back to the Middle Ages. Useless, annoying, silly and dumb!
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/7 "2011-07-13T17:41:04Z")
Here’s one from PETA. When Petco Park in San Diego was being constructed for the Padres, fans were given the chance to purchase bricks outside of the stadium concourse and to have dedications engraved into them. PETA purchased a brick and had it inscribed, “Break Open Your Cold Ones. Toast The Padres. Enjoy This Champion Organization.” The initial letters of the words spell out “BOYCOTT PETCO.”
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### Author:  [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/8 "2011-07-13T17:47:17Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#):
>
> Many years ago, I founded CACA: The Committee to Abolish Contrived Acronyms.
>
> Membership is free! Join us, won’t you?
I’ll have to decide between you and your rival group, COCOA:
> **[Committee to Outlaw Contrived and Outrageous Acronyms](https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Committee+to+Outlaw+Contrived+and+Outrageous+Acronyms)**
>
> What does COCOA stand for?
🙂
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/9 "2011-07-13T19:45:42Z")
I thought this was going to be more about ways to make / pronounce acronyms that are strained…
An old, real one that serves as an example was the **Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations** - acronyzed 🙂 to **JCAHO** …and pronounced “ **Jake-O** ” - WTF? That’s like finding out Favre is pronounced Farve…
They have since modified their name to “The Joint Commission”
Which makes me think of a Cheech and Chong movie…
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/10 "2011-07-14T12:07:10Z")
There’s Calvin’s club GROSS, which IIRC stands for **G** et **R** id **O** f **S** tupid girl **S**.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/11 "2011-07-14T12:19:08Z")
OK, how about CEDRIC? (UK Customs & Excise Intelligence Computer Data System)
The name was definitely touted as an acronym (always being written in caps, etc), but it’s not.
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### Author:  [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/12 "2011-07-14T13:09:01Z")
The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), AKA Fannie Mae and her brother The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), AKA Freddie Mac
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### Author:  [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/13 "2011-07-14T14:01:28Z")
MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving. As opposed to what?
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### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/14 "2011-07-14T14:17:23Z")
In my field there’s an International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria for Lesions, which somehow gets abbreviated to INHAND.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/15 "2011-07-14T14:18:22Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#):
>
> MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving. As opposed to what?
Mothers Against Drunk Racing, the next step.
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### Author:  [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/16 "2011-07-14T14:27:07Z")
> [@bahia\_hombre](#):
>
> CAPTCHA (to play on the word ‘capture’) = “ **C** ompletely **A** utomated **P** ublic **T** uring test to tell **C** omputers and **H** umans **A** part”
Is _that_ what CAPTCHA stands for? Jesus Christ, I didn’t even realize it was an acronym, and am now worse off for knowing. I’m also peeved by strained acronyms, and love that this is a thread, as it gives me another thing to hate.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/17 "2011-07-14T14:28:02Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#):
>
> MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving. As opposed to what?
DAMM – Drunks Against Mad Mothers.
I’ve always liked FLEASWTRACENPAC – Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Training Center Pacific. (I pronounce it ‘flee-swuh-trassen-pak’. I don’t know how they actually say it.)
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### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/18 "2011-07-14T14:48:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> Here’s one from PETA. When Petco Park in San Diego was being constructed for the Padres, fans were given the chance to purchase bricks outside of the stadium concourse and to have dedications engraved into them. PETA purchased a brick and had it inscribed, “Break Open Your Cold Ones. Toast The Padres. Enjoy This Champion Organization.” The initial letters of the words spell out “BOYCOTT PETCO.”
What? Who came up with the inscription? PETA? A disgruntled PETA employee?
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/19 "2011-07-14T15:41:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I’ve always liked FLEASWTRACENPAC – Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Training Center Pacific. (I pronounce it ‘flee-swuh-trassen-pak’. I don’t know how they actually say it.)
Oh yeah - all of that Military Tom Clancy CINCLANTOPS type stuff is so hard to take seriously.
How about POTUS and FLOTUS and SCOTUS? We’re all cool insiders now that these nicknames have crossed over to the mainstream, but jeez they sound dorky as hell. The most powerful person in the world is the POTUS? :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strained-acronyms/588883/20 "2011-07-14T15:54:10Z")
> [@brewha](#):
>
> What? Who came up with the inscription? PETA? A disgruntled PETA employee?
I assume PETA protesting Petco. (no headsmacking required, I did the same thing the first three or four times I read it.)
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