Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

The Adidas sex "acronym" goes at least back to 1975, in my elementary school.

"Adidas" isn't an acronym, but comes from the founder's name:  Adi Dassler

Also found while looking this up:

Adidas -- All Day I Dream About Soccer, All Day I Dream About Sport, All day I dream about shoes, (Spanish) "Asociación De Idiotas Dispuestos A Superarse" ("Association Of Idiots Willing To Outdo Themselves")
NAACP -- Never Arrest Adam Clayton Powell
MARTA (Atlanta mass transit system) -- Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta
OMNI (civic arena in Atlanta) -- One Million N*****s Inside
Fiat -- Fix It Again Tony; Failure In Automotive Technology
  Many more automotive Backronyms at:   http://www.angelfire.com/az/NASCARFAN/page18.html


FBI -- Fumbling Bunch of Idiots
RSVP -- Refreshments Served Very Promptly
NASA (post shuttle disasters) -- Need Another Seven Astronauts, Not All Shuttles Arrive
USMC -- Uncle Sam's Misguided Children

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of nwhitman at ameritech.net
> Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2010 11:09 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "nwhitman at ameritech.net" <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms
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>
> Though the original word is not afaik an acronym, in 1979 my cousin
> told me Adidas stood for "all day I dream about sex."
>
> Neal
>
> 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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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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