pseudo-acronyms

[Arnold Zwicky]

every so often we have a discussion of purported acronym
sources for common words.  a while back, larry horn called
them "pseudo-acronyms" and connected them (and the inventive-
story etymologies) to urban legends.

i have a stanford colleague (in the business school) who's
been working on urban legends and hadn't heard about pseudo-acronyms
before.  he wondered if there was a discussion of these in print.
any advice about where to point him?  or is this yet another
topic that someone needs to write up (for the common good)?

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)