source of "orphan initialism"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

Daniel (Dan) Puckett, of the San Antonio Express-News, says: "You
always worry about cryptomnesia in cases like this, but I think I
made it up in 2000, when I was rewriting the St. Petersburg Times
stylebook and wanted an entry specifically about these things, which
seemed to be sprouting everywhere."

here's the stylebook entry:

orphan initialisms
Many initialisms no longer stand for anything. If one has changed
recently, inserting the former full name is a good idea: "the AARP,
formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons."
Some of the most common:
AAA: Formerly the American Automobile Association.
AARP: Formerly the American Association of Retired Persons.
ACT Assessment: Formerly the American College Test.
AT&T: Formerly American Telephone & Telegraph Co.
FFA: Formerly Future Farmers of America.
KFC: Formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken.
SAT: Formerly Scholastic Assessment Test, and before that, Scholastic
Aptitude Test.
(That's copyright © 2005, St. Petersburg Times)

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ACT gave me pause for a moment.  whoa, i thought, ACT is no longer
American Conservatory Theater?!  when did *that* happen?  then i got it.

although i went to a high school with a large and very active Future
Farmers of America chapter,  FFA now calls up inappropriate images of
the Fist Fuckers of America (this is a genuine organization, by the
way).

arnold, pleased that the NAACP hasn't orphaned its initialism (at
this point the name is a wonderful bit of history)

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