Backronym
A backronym is a word interpreted as an acronym that was not originally so intended. This is a special case of what linguists call back-formation."Backronym" is a portmanteau of back and acronym. Discovering backronyms is a common form of wordplay among hackers.
Some examples of backronymns include:
- Acme - The canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry (from the "Roadrunner" cartoons), commonly backronymed to "A (or American) Company Making (or Manufacturing) Everything".
- Mung - Green gram, a kind of pulse (Phaseolus Mungo), grown for food in British India, commonly backronymed as "Mash Until No Good". Later it had become "Mung Until No Good", making it a rare example of a recursive backronym.
- Ahimsa - A religious concept which advocates non-violence and a respect for all life, Sanskrit for avoidance of himsa, or injury to sentient beings. It is commonly backronymed as "Abstinence from animal products, Harmlessness with reverence for life, Integrity of thought, word, and deed, Mastery over oneself, Service to humanity, nature, and creation, and Advancement of understanding and truth".
- Ada - A computer programming language named after Ada Lovelace, with humorously intended backonym of Another 'Darn' Acronym.
- Arby's - The Arby's chain of restaurants was named after its founders; in the early 1980s the company launched an advertising campaign that used the bacronym "America's Roast Beef, Yes Sir!"