Acronym-etymologies

[Your Name]

dear Jim Landau,
I'm very new in your your 'discussion-webring' and I'm happy that I found a
link to it some weeks ago.

---> In your eMail you used the term 'second-level acronym'. Do you know
know some acronyms with also a higher level?

And I have an other questions:

In some of your eMails I red the word 'backronym'. I think it is also a an
acronym and I try to find the way back.
---> Does it mean, that someone created an interesting acronym (with no
meaning) and searched for some words to form give this acronym a suitable
long interpretation?

Please excuse my english.

By the way:
---> Do you know if there exists also a german discussion-group like your's
in the internet?

And a last question:
---> is there a link where I can find a summery of all these etymological
contributions - an etymological database or dictionnary?

Mit freundlichem Gruß
Yours sincerely
Sincères salutations
Üdvözlettel

Horst Conrad                                           .

Telefon: +49 (0) 6332/49122
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----- Original Message -----
From: "James A. Landau" <JJJRLandau at AOL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 9:56 PM
Subject: Re: Acronym-etymologies


> In a message dated Mon, 1 Apr 2002  2:33:18 PM Eastern Standard Time,
sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> writes:
>
> >  Is spam SPAM?  In other words, is it merely a reference to its
> > disagreeableness, or is it an  acronym (Something-or-other Advertising
> > Message)?
> > A. Murie
>
> I believe the canned meat is SPiced hAM.
>
> If I remember correctly, the OED2 says that unsolicited E-mail received
its name from a Monty Python skit but not whether the skit was using the
name of the canned meat.
>
> Is there a term for words that consist, not of initials of words, but of
syllables from different words (sometimes combined with initials)?  E.g.
"TACAN" which is "TACtical Air Navigation" (a navigation system belonging to
the military).
>
> Then there is "VOR", not the aristocrats in the Lois McMaster Bujold
novels but an acronym for "Vhf Omnidirectional Range" (a navigation system
belonging to the civilian FAA, for which I work.)  "VHF" is itself an
acronym for "Very High Frequency", making VOR a second-level acronym.
>
> TACAN and VOR transmitters are frequently combined into one facility,
called a "VORTAC".
>
>      Jim Landau
>      systems engineer
>      FAA Technical Center (ASB-510/BCI)
>      Atlantic City Airport NJ 08405 USA