Backronym

The arrival of coeducation at St. Paul's in 1971 inspired the verb to scope (a foreclipping and conversion of "telescope") and the derived noun scoper, "one who appreciatively ogles the opposite sex." From this process has arisen an unofficial organization named SCOPERS, a reverse acronym, or bacronym, for "Students Concentrating On the Palatable Extremities of the Reciprocal Sex."

Backronym versus acronym

An "acronym" is a pronounceable word derived from the initial letters of a phrase:² For example, the word radar comes from "Radio Detection and Ranging".³ Letters from the originating phrase are used to construct a pronounceable word. By contrast, a backronym is constructed by starting with a word (or an initialism) and, beginning with the first letter, using each letter to begin each word of a phrase. The word then becomes an acronym or initialism of the newly formed phrase. In this sense, a backronym is the reversal of an acronym.

Since an acronym is defined as a word,⁴ and a backronym is constructed from an acronym, it logically follows that the phrase must come from a word. However, this rule is commonly broken, even by dictionaries providing examples such as DVD (an initialism, see image)⁵ and SOS (a representation of the emergency signal used in Morse code).⁴

Types

Backronyms can be classified along various types. Note that these types are not all exclusive of each other, that is, a backronym can be mnemonic, pure, and recursive. However, a backronym cannot be both pure and replacement.

Pure

A pure backronym occurs when the root word was not previously or commonly known as an acronym or abbreviation. Examples:

Sometimes the backronym is so commonly heard, that it is generally but incorrectly believed to have been used in the formation of the word, and amounts to a folk etymology. Examples of these include:

Replacement

Some backronyms are back-formed from an initialism or acronym that is an abbreviation with another meaning. For example,

Apronym

Many backronyms are apronyms, that is, the word itself is relevant to its associated phrase.¹⁶ The relevance may be either serious or ironic. One example is the term BASE jumping, which was coined to signify a parachute jump from one of the bases building, antenna, span, or earth.¹⁷

Mnemonic

Backronyms are often constructed for educational purposes, to form mnemonics so that the word or initialism is easier to remember. For instance, when learning to read sheet music, students often learn Every Good Boy Deserves (Favour/Fudge/Flogging/Fruit/Football/Fun) (UK/Canada/US/AUS) or Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday (US) or Elephants Got Big Dirty Feet (US) to help remember that these notes (E, G, B, D, and F) are "on the lines" of the treble clef staff. Another example, also applied in the treble clef, is FACE, referring to the "space" notes F, A, C, E. Examples used for memorizing the notes on the lines of the bass clef staff (G, B, D, F, and A) are Good Burritos Don't Fall Apart (US) and Go Down And Eat Breakfast|Banana, and Fat Boys Eat All Day for the names of the major keys. In Finland, the backronym "Esko Aho Diggaa Golfista, Halonen Ei" (Esko Aho digs golf, Halonen doesn't) helps children remember the strings of a guitar in order (E, A, D, G, H/B, E). In Dutch, the corresponding backronym is "Een Aap Die Geen Bananen Eet" (A monkey that does not eat bananas). US and UK versions include "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie", and "Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually."

For color coding on resistors the mnemonic is "Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well" or "Bad Boys Ruin Our Young Girls But Violet Goes Willingly" (Black - 0, Brown - 1, Red -2, Orange - 3, Yellow - 4, Green - 5, Blue - 6, Violet - 7, Grey - 8, White - 9). Note that the vowel following the B in each of the three B words is the same as the vowel in the color it represents.

In North America, geography students learn "HOMES" to remember the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior).¹⁸The mnemonics "Super Man Helps Every One" and "Some Men Hug Each Other" are used to remember them in geographical order, from west to east.

A popular way to learn the process of long division is to remember that Dracula Must Suck Blood: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down.

Many people memorise the placement of North, East, South and West on a compass by thinking of the phrase "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" written in a clockwise direction.

Another example is the Apgar score, used to assess the health of newborn children. The rating system is named after Virginia Apgar, but ten years after the initial publication, the acronym APGAR¹⁹ was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration.

Some children learn the colours of the rainbow using the mnemonic "Rip Out Your Guts Before I Vomit" (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). Another rainbow mnemonic is "Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain." American students often memorize the simple name ROY G. BIV.²⁰

In star classification the backronym Oh, Be A Fine Girl/Guy Kiss Me Right Now, Sweetheart, and a number of variations, are used to remember the order of star classes, from bluest to reddest.

The street names of Seattle's city center are paired by names beginning with the same letter. The phrase "Jesus Christ made Seattle under protest" helps to recall the order of the streets: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike, and Pine. To remember which one of each pair comes first, south to north, a few elderly Seattleites still mumble "Jeff's Cherry Marion Springs University Pikes." Or when asked, "Speak up, what was that?" maybe the more forgettable Cheerful and Peaks.

One to remember the order of the planets is: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets. This method, however, is effective only if one still considers Pluto to be a planet. My Very Easy Method Just Seems Useless Now.

In Sweden, pupils in low-level school learn "Vi ska Äta Ni ska Laga" which literally means "We shall Eat You shall Cook" to remember the names of the rivers that flow down the west coast. (Viskan Ätran Nissan Lagan).

Anacronym

Some backronyms are replacements of other phrases that have become obsolete, either for technological, political or marketing reasons. The result is an anacronym. For example,

False

While not necessarily a type, many backronyms are falsely believed to come from an acronym or initialism that means something else. Unlike anacronyms, these original meanings still hold. Examples include:

Recursive

Some backronyms are also recursive acronyms. Perhaps the most famous of these is GNU, the open source software project, which stands for GNU's Not Unix.³⁷

Jokes and teaching

Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step programs have a verbal culture that makes extensive use of backronyms.³⁹. They're used as teaching tools, similar to slogans like "one day at a time," or "Let go, let God," but often have an ironic edge.

Pejorative

Sometimes, people use pejorative backronyms when the concept the acronym refers to has perceived problems.

Contents