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Sep 20, 2005 This week's theme Words about words This week's words autonym backronym ananym charactonym anonym Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg backronym backronym (BAK-ro-nim) noun A word re-interpreted as an acronym. [Compound of back + acronym.] In a backronym, an expansion is invented to treat an existing word as an acronym. An example is the PERL programming language whose name is now explained as an acronym of Practical Extraction and Report Language. When naming, sometimes a suitable name is chosen and then an acronym is retrofitted on top of it: USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). The clunkiness of the expansion is a quick giveaway. How about forming a backronym for ACRONYM itself: A Contrived Result Of Nomenclature Yielding Mechanism? Often, backronyms serve a useful purpose as mnemonics. For example, see Apgar Score. "Some people think chad is an acronym standing for Card Hole Aggregate Debris. But Kevin told me about the cyberlegend that chad is a backronym." Marsha Mercer; Chad Finds New Meaning in Post-election Verbiage; Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia); Nov 19, 2000. X-Bonus Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

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