Acronymic Mockery, Folk Acronyms (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Garson O'Toole]

Neal Whitman wrote
>> Though the original word is not afaik an acronym, in 1979 my cousin
>> told me Adidas stood for "all day I dream about sex."

Bill Mullins wrote
> 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

I think this means that Adidas *is* an acronym according to one
definition of the term. There are acronyms based on groups of initial
letters, e.g.,  Benelux derived from Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg.

> 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
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
>> --------
>> 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
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> 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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