Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms

[Bill Palmer]

One that immediately comes to mind is for the national airline of Italy,
ALITALIA...
"Always late in takeoff, always late in arrival"

There must be at lest a million others.

Bill P
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul" <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 2:01 PM
Subject: Re: Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> airlines http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/91q3/airlines.html
>
> On 6/12/2010 12:48 PM, Mark Peters wrote:
>> Hey folks,
>>
>> I'm writing a column this week on what I'm calling "Acronymic Mockery," a
>> form of folk acronym-specifically, how people are saying that BP really
>> stands for "Bungled Plugjob," "Brazen Polluters," "Beyond Punishment,"
>> etc.
>>
>> I'm trying to get as many other examples as I can too. I've found plenty
>> involving the CIA, FBI, NRA, and NFL, such as the well-known "No Fun
>> League" and "People Eating Tasting Animals" (PETA). Any other examples
>> come to mind? This isn't really about folk acronyms proposed as
>> etymology, but what the hell, if there's a not-so-well-known example, I'd
>> welcome that too.
>>
>> If anyone knows of an article about this, that tip would be particularly
>> appreciated. I found a couple old ones in the Journal of American
>> Folklore, but there must be more. Thanks!
>>
>> Mark
>>
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>
>
> "The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a
> rat."
>                                        Lily Tomlin
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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