# Unfortunate Acronyms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651 "2010-03-24T18:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/21 "2010-03-26T02:17:09Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > Bachelor of Science degree – it’s so obvious, it shouldn’t cause a snicker anymore, but it does. I thought that was abbreviated “BSc”? It is in the UK, at any rate. ---
**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 26, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/22 "2010-03-26T07:12:59Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I thought that was abbreviated “BSc”? It is in the UK, at any rate. It’s BSc in Australia too (I have one). However in the US it’s “BS”. I’m more confused about how one can have a Bachelor of **Science** in English. Since when is “English” a science? ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/23 "2010-03-26T11:55:09Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I believe there used to be, before they changed their name, a Sam Houston Institute of Technology. > > Then there French Connection United Kingdom, but that was quite obviously intentional. My husband loves their cologne. His cousin got him some when he was studying abroad and it smelled great. It always turned me on. Often, it lead to a great fcuking. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/24 "2010-03-26T12:16:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s BSc in Australia too (I have one). However in the US it’s “BS”. Not everywhere. I have an Sc.B. from MIT. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/25 "2010-03-26T12:27:55Z")
One system I programmed back in 1990 was named the **S** huttle **H** azard **T** racking **S** ystem. Lead to much fun at status meetings. Jeannie: “I’ve got the AMRAAM. We’re up to date on…” Don: “I’ve got the software mods for the SFW. Currently…” Steve: “LANTIRN here. No change since…” LOAP: “I’ve got the SHTS.” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/26 "2010-03-26T15:12:19Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I’m more confused about how one can have a Bachelor of **Science** in English. Since when is “English” a science? :smack: You’d think I’d remember my own degree. It’s a BA (Bachelor of Arts)–it’s \*friends \*whom I’ve teased about having a BS. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/27 "2010-03-26T16:23:16Z")
About 10 years ago, when some of our right wing parties were merging, changing identities, etc., a new party was emerging, and the debate was on what to call it. The first (official?) name of the party was “Canadian (or Conservative, can’t remember which) Reform Alliance Party”. After a few Canadian wags had fun with the name, it was quickly changed to just the Alliance Party (which also is now dead.) ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/28 "2010-03-26T17:22:39Z")
During a session of this year’s Harvard Model Congress in Boston, we passed a bill entitled PENIS. It dealt with the problem of sexual education (whether or not to teach abstinence or contraception.) It was definitley manipulated a bit, but the acronym made perfect sense. I wrote it down somewhere but do not remember at the time what exactly it stood for:smack:. If i happen to come across it I’ll be sure to edit this post. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/29 "2010-03-26T17:49:33Z")
I worked with a guy who wa one meeting away from naming his system the Finance/ Accounts Receivable Tracking System. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/30 "2010-03-26T17:55:23Z")
Here’s one that was averted – for several years, royalty rates for statutory licenses were established by CARPs. CARP was an abbreviation for “Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel.” Say what? “Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel” is nonsense. These aren’t panels that oversee “arbitration royalties.” These are arbitration panels that set copyright royalties. So they should be called “Copyright Royalty Arbitration Panels.” Except, what happens when you make that into an acronym – CRAPs. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/31 "2010-03-26T18:18:16Z")
Oh, and I’ve always been vaguely disappointed that they went with \*\*Bay \*\*Area Rapid Transit instead of \*\*San Francisco \*\*Area (I wanna ride the S-FART!). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/32 "2010-03-26T21:24:02Z")
The student activities center on our campus is referred to as the SAC. During the last presidential primary race, we had President Clinton on campus campaigning for his wife. The gym in the student activities center was the only space large enough to accommodate the expected crowd. After the event, some wag printed up t-shirts reading “I was in the SAC with Bill Clinton.” ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/33 "2010-03-26T22:57:55Z")
Prior to 2003, Albuquerque’s Minor Leauge Baseball team played at the **A** lbuquerque **S** ports **S** tadium. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/34 "2010-03-27T00:28:09Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > About 10 years ago, when some of our right wing parties were merging, changing identities, etc., a new party was emerging, and the debate was on what to call it. The first (official?) name of the party was “Canadian (or Conservative, can’t remember which) Reform Alliance Party”. After a few Canadian wags had fun with the name, it was quickly changed to just the Alliance Party (which also is now dead.) Nonsense, it is not dead. It took over the old Progressive Conservative Party (which had managed the astounding feat of going from a parliamentary majority of over 160 seats to exactly 2 (causing the joke, Why is a Chevy better than the PCs? -Because it has more than 2 seats). When Reform took over the PCs they changed the name to Conservative and are now running the country (with a minority government). But the core of the party is still the old Reform Alliance. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/35 "2010-03-27T16:23:42Z")
**P** rogressive **O** uter **R** etinal **N** ecrosis. Just _try_ looking it up online. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/36 "2010-03-27T17:25:36Z")
This one cropped up in real life. I was part of a team developing some financials/accounting software. Everything was specified using three-letter acronyms. All functions took the ‘F’ prefix, every archive process was ‘ARC’ something, and all units (trading entities) on the system were filed under ‘UNT’. We did have a function that archived redundant Unit records. As the technical writer on the team, it was my job to point out to the senior management that we probably didn’t want users staring at a function named F-ARCUNT. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/37 "2010-03-28T01:12:59Z")
> [@cromulent](#): > > **P** rogressive **O** uter **R** etinal **N** ecrosis. > > Just _try_ looking it up online. [I just did](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_outer_retinal_necrosis). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/38 "2010-03-28T02:53:42Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > It’s BSc in Australia too (I have one). However in the US it’s “BS”. > > I’m more confused about how one can have a Bachelor of **Science** in English. Since when is “English” a science? Yeah, I was gonna ask that too. I have a BA in English. Sure, it _ought_ to be a BS. But it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/39 "2010-03-28T03:22:05Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society When I was an undergrad, each department had a four letter abbreviation for its name, for computerized registration purposes. ENGL for English, MATH for Mathematics, PHYS for Physics, etc. The abbreviation for the Department of Comparative Literature was CLIT. When a female friend filled out the paperwork to major in Comparative Literature, she looked at the form and said to her (also female) adviser "You mean I’m a - a " “Yes, unfortunate, isn’t it.” ---
**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, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651/40 "2010-03-28T21:25:35Z")
I’m on my elementary school’s team of teachers who know about technology. Another teacher suggested was start one up: “At my old school,” she explained, “we had some students who helped people with technical problems. They called themselves the SWAT Team: Students Who Assist with Technology. But that was a middle school. Why don’t we do the same thing here, except with teachers?” I studiously avoided eye contact with our school’s tech guy, so I wouldn’t bust out sniggering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunate-acronyms/533651.md?page=3)