# This definition has broken my head inside.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 16, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247 "2007-12-16T21:44:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/1 "2007-12-16T21:44:04Z")

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"What is PHP?  
PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor "  
How can the ‘P’ in ‘PHP’ stand for ‘PHP’? It’s aninfinite regression nightmare!

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**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/2 "2007-12-16T21:54:51Z")

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It’s a [recursive acronym](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive_acronym), a.k.a. some dickhead’s attempt at being funny. Apparently, according to that page, it was originally “Personal Home Page”, until some smartass changed it for version 3.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/3 "2007-12-17T03:03:13Z")

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You get a lot of these among certain sectors of the software community. For instance, GNU stands for “GNU’s Not Unix”.

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**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/4 "2007-12-17T10:54:15Z")

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That’s kind of like the rumour that the Unix text editor PINE stood for “Pine Is Not Elm.” I’ve never known if I should really believe it.

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/5 "2007-12-17T14:13:23Z")

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Or like the rumor that SAS stands for “Statistical Analysis System”. It doesn’t, even though the software actually is a statistical analysis system. It’s just a word.

Of course, it _used to_ stand for “Statistical Analysis System”, but that was a long time ago. Back when they sold software. Now they don’t sell software, they sell “solutions”. Since my problem is that I need statistical analysis system software, I guess they do sell solutions, but this is still way beyond my comprehension.

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**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-definition-has-broken-my-head-inside/430247/6 "2007-12-17T15:01:16Z")

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So wondering now about the origin of PINE, I came across a page about [backronyms](http://www.answers.com/backronym?cat=technology&gwp=16). Apparently, PHP, GNU, and PINE are all examples of “recursive backronyms.”

> [@](#):
>
> Recursive
> 
> Some backronyms are formed recursively. Perhaps the most famous of these is GNU, the open source software project, which stands for GNU’s Not Unix.[37] Later software projects also adopted recursive names, including:
> 
> ```
> * PINE — PINE Is Nearly Elm or PINE Is Not Elm, referring to the e-mail program Elm (an acronym for "ELectronic Mail").[38] Note, however, that PINE now officially stands for "Program for Internet News & E-mail".
> * LAME — LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder.[39]
> * WINE — WINE Is Not an Emulator.[40]
> * PHP — PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.[41]
> * UIRA — UIRA Isn't a Recursive Acronym.
> 
> ```

I still haven’t figured out what kind of backronym “SAS” is. I know the answer is on that page some place but my eyes are starting to cross from lack of sleep.