BBQ (1951)

[David Bowie]

From:    "Joanne M. Despres" <jdespres at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM>
: On 27 Oct 2003, at 3:06, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

: > Merriam-Webster has an entry for "BBQ," but no date.

: FYI, we date acronyms, but not abbreviations.

Is "BBQ" really an abbreviation? I wonder because i conducted a series of
sociolinguistic interviews a few years ago where i asked about barbecue--and
as i recall, i had a couple people inform me that the correct spelling is
BBQ, and that "barbecue" is just something that people came up with to match
the pronunciation. (The reverse of a spelling pronunciation, i suppose?)

There's definitely some folk etymology going on here, but it seems that, at
least in some people's minds, BBQ is an actual spelling of an actual word,
not an abbreviation.

David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
    Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
    house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
    chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.