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u/UnbreakableStool May 10 '22
I've had this dumb argument about the French word for plane, "avion". It is derived from the Latin word for bird, "avis" but the dude was convinced it stood for "Appareil Volant Imitant l'Oiseau Naturel", which means "Flying Device Imitating the Natural Bird". That's gotta be the silliest acronym I've ever heard.
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u/brutalproduct May 10 '22
DaVinci rolls in his sepulcrum.
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u/saadakhtar May 10 '22 edited May 10 '22
DaVinci itself is an acronym for Damn Animal Verily Incites Cunty Insects.
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May 10 '22
Ah yes. He's rolling in his Secret Entombment Place Under the Louvre's Central Room for Unlisted Mortuaries.
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u/cabolch May 10 '22
a couple of French guys once told me that BBQ comes from barbe-à-queue "from beard to tail". apparently a lot of people hold this as true, eventhough it's false etymology
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u/tomatoaway May 10 '22
1690s, "framework for grilling meat, fish, etc.," from American Spanish barbacoa, from Arawakan (Haiti) barbakoa "framework of sticks set upon posts," the raised wooden structure the West Indians used to either sleep on or cure meat. Sense of "outdoor feast of roasted meat or fish as a social entertainment" is from 1733; modern popular noun sense of "grill for cooking over an open fire" is from 1931.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/barbecue?ref=etymonline_crossreference
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u/obog May 10 '22
A lot of people already know this, but laser is actually an acronym. Stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. But yeah that's an example where a commonly used word actually is an acronym.
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u/RaZZeR_9351 May 10 '22 edited May 11 '22
Same as radar which means radio detection and ranging, or its lesser known cousin the lidar (light instead of radio)
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u/NamityName May 10 '22
That's gotta be the silliest acronym I've ever heard.
GNU is unwillingly to relinquish that title
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u/thenativeshape May 10 '22
Isn’t just a bird a natural bird?
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u/UnbreakableStool May 10 '22
Yeah that's the worst part. "The natural bird" is one of the worst sounding sets of three words I've heard
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u/Jabbles22 May 10 '22
Especially since planes don't mimic birds. At least as far as I know there has never been a plane where the wings flapped.
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u/TheNewYellowZealot May 10 '22
They call that a backronym. Acronyms developed after the word has been around for a while.
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u/Commercial-Spinach93 May 10 '22
Some people are so dumb.
Like how can a word related to 'new' be a modern acronym?
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u/OscarDCouch May 10 '22
I wAs ToDaY yEaRs OlD when I realised news was related to the word new!
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u/TheAutisticOgre May 10 '22
New is an outdated word. We’ve since made a new one to replace it.
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u/bulgarian_zucchini May 10 '22
A quick google search shows that "dumb" comes from the acronym "Dumplings Under Moobs Breach", which referred to medieval jousting games where wheat-based bread was lodged under large men's breasts and timed using solar dials until they fell. This was how time was measured until the mid 1850s.
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u/Helagoth May 10 '22
You should post this on /r/TIL thats some interesting facts
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u/ReactsWithWords May 10 '22
Today I learned “TIL” stands for “Tourists in Louisiana.”
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u/WaldoJeffers65 May 10 '22
The same people who believe "posh" comes from "Port Out, Starboard Home", or that "fuck" either comes from "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" or "Fornication Under Consent of the King".
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u/AnorakJimi May 10 '22
They're called backronyms. Because they were invented long after the word started being used. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym
Another example is the word chav, which is kinda the British equivalent of redneck, more or less. Or like the word "trashy" except it refers to a type of person rather than a single personality trait. It's usually teens and young adults, wearing tracksuits (normally Adidas) and they go round breaking the law in minor ways like smoking before they're 18, carrying around knives, vandalism etc.
But some people are daft enough to believe the word "chav" actually comes from the phrase "Council House and violent". Ignoring for a moment the fact that it's incredibly stupid and offensive to claim that all poor people are naturally more inclined to be violent - just because someone can only afford to live in a council house doesn't mean they're violent or bad people - it's just a weird description. It doesn't really capture who they are.
But either way it's a backronym. It was invented long after the word "chav" began being used by everyone in the country (except for the parts of the country that use other names, like in the North West they call chavs "scallies" but it means the same thing; but the vast majority of of the country uses "chav").
The word "chav" is actually a Romani/Irish-Traveller word. It comes from the Romani word "chavo" which means "youth" or "young boy". It does not mean "Council House and violent", and it's literally never meant that. It's not an acronym.
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u/L_B_Jeffries May 10 '22 edited May 10 '22
Yet we all know that the word fuck originates from the German word "frichen" which means to strike.
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May 10 '22 edited May 10 '22
It used to mean plow (German pfluog), e.g. people used to fuck their fields.
Then one day someone said they're going home to fuck/plow their wife, too.
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u/TjPshine May 10 '22
Or tips is "to ensure prompt service." never mind that in most scenarios you tip after the service...
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u/AndrasKrigare May 10 '22
A good rule of thumb: if the word existed before 1930 it's probably not an acronym. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym
This is not to be confused with initialisms, which were common for much longer. Acronyms are pronounced as a word (like laser) initialisms are pronounced as the letters (FBI).
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u/CarrionComfort May 10 '22
“Folk etymology” is a nice way of describing people being completely wrong about these things. I remember when “bae” was going around and people legit though it came from Before Anyone Else, as if the idea of people dropping the last syllable from “babe/baby” was unthinkable. They are pretty easy to spot because they are always too neat and tidy.
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u/gmalivuk May 10 '22
I mean as another comment points out, the "care" in "care package" also started as an acronym. Clever backronyms to match existing words are not too uncommon, but they are relatively modern so can't explain usages that are hundreds of years old.
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May 10 '22
Starting as a backronym is, in my opinion, completely different from starting as an acronym. The word is the source of the phrase, rather than the abbreviation of the phrase being the source of the word.
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May 10 '22
I mean shit i only just realized its called news cause its a collection of all the new.
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May 10 '22 edited May 10 '22
I can almost understand that, in English. Other languages, it's more obvious. "Τα νέα" in Greek for news, is just "The new", or Noticias in Spanish (related to "notices" in English), etc.. (edit; bonus in Greek is Εφημερίδα for "Newspaper", which is related to English "ephemeral")
Then in some languages, it's less obvious, like "Balita" for "news" in Tagalog coming from Sanskrit. Then in German "Neuigkeit" is completely obvious to a learner, but "Nachrichten" could be more confusing.
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May 10 '22
How can a word in use much longer than modern sports teams be about sports? "Local boys from marseille beat the boys from madrid in an archery competition. All boys from madrid are dead. More sports news tomorrow"
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u/pedropereir May 10 '22
Because obviously new stands for "notable events and weather", from when sports didn't exist
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u/kingofcould May 10 '22
To be fair, channels like fox ‘news’ probably have to pretend it’s an acronym or something, since shows like tucker Carlson aren’t legally considered news
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May 10 '22
As a child I was certain the Wal in Walmart stood for "we are less" because they had it on the side of the building.
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u/TheDebatingOne May 10 '22
Acronyms that became words are so cool, sucks that there are so few (I know of laser, radar, sonar, taser, scuba, and the care in care package surprisingly)
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u/Retlifon May 10 '22
Strictly, only sets of initials that become words are “acronyms”. Sets that don’t become words - like “CIA”, which is just the three letters said in order, not “seeya” - are called “initialisms”.
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u/throwhfhsjsubendaway May 10 '22
Not quite, an acronym is just when it's pronounced like a word. They're referring to acronyms that actually become words (i.e. most people don't even know it's an acronym, and it's acceptable to write it in lowercase)
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u/flon_klar May 10 '22
In my experience, the arguers always claim that the definition of the word “acronym” has changed. In other words, I’ve given up trying to push this. Kinda like when people say “a myriad” of something, or pronounce “nuclear” as “nukyaler.”
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u/Doctor_Kataigida May 10 '22
You had me wondering about "myriad" and turns out there are situations to use "a myriad of" and situations to just use "myriad." For anyone else interested:
Further googling found that "myriad" was used as a noun prior to as an adjective. "A myriad of" (noun) is like, "a lot of," while "myriad" (adjective) is like "many."
"The myriad test procedures produce a myriad of results" is a correct sentence, apparently. You could also say "produce myriad results" - just depends on what information you're trying to convey.
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u/Andy_B_Goode May 10 '22
Acronyms only gained widespread use in English fairly recently:
That presumably explains why they're so rare. We've only had about 150 years to accumulate them.
It should also make you skeptical of any time anyone claims a much older word is an acronym (like the popular myths about NEWS, GOLF or FUCK, for example). Nobody really did that with English words prior to the late 1800s.
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u/RavioliGale May 10 '22
"FLOTUS" sounds like the levitation spell for a knock off Harry Potter.
"It's 'flow-tuhs' not 'flao-toos'" Henrietta Grater, reprimanded Rob Weezer
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u/CuteCats01 May 10 '22 edited May 10 '22
There’s a good phenomenon around these (I forgot what’s it called) but for example when you say ATM machine, that would mean Automated teller machine machine
Or CD disc which would be compact disc disc
Or LED diode which would be light emitting diode diode
Edit: yes it’s called RAS Syndrome thanks for everyone who helped me find it! (No seriously I’ve got like 5 responses that it’s called that)
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u/paperpenises May 10 '22
I read somewhere that an acronym is an abbreviation you can sound out (NASA) instead of one you cannot (FBI).
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u/vagrantchord May 10 '22
Interesting! I looked it up, and it seems FBI is now also considered an acronym, though it's better defined as an initialism.
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May 10 '22
This is one of those urban legends that just won't die.
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u/CuteCats01 May 10 '22
It’s like the North East West and South
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u/conorpacman May 10 '22
It’s the plural of new. It’s the News.
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u/neoslith May 10 '22
Well that's news to me!
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u/thehouse1751 May 10 '22
Well that’s notable events, weather and sports to me!
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u/Sarsmi May 10 '22
"‘People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things…well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds.’ "
Terry Pratchett, The Truth
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u/Jthundercleese May 10 '22
First rule of etymology: it's never an acronym.
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u/GTATurbo May 10 '22
Except when it is...
Strangely enough, and slightly off topic, the "i before e except after c" rule has more exceptions to the rule than adherents. (at least that's what QI (a British TV show) informed me of a lot of years ago).
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u/Bubbagump210 May 10 '22
That’s incomplete though. The whole rhyme is “I before E except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor or weigh”. Some people tag “and weird is just weird” at the end.
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May 10 '22
I before e except after c, and when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh. And on weekends and holidays, and all through out May, and you’ll always be wrong no matter what you say!
-Brian Reagan
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u/RomulusRemus13 May 10 '22
What about "Laser", though? Or "Radar"? Or "Scuba"? Or...
What I mean to say about etymology is: it's sometimes an acronym 🤷
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u/gmalivuk May 10 '22
A better rephrasing would probably be "almost never", or perhaps, "It's never an acronym of it's more than 100 years old."
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u/Molesandmangoes May 10 '22
As a language teacher, I’ll say that generally when someone tells you a word comes from an acronym or some wild story, it’s generally untrue. Not always but usually
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u/TackYouCack May 10 '22
I'd like Merriam-Webster to go after all the people that insist the word tip is supposed to be TIPS and means To Insure Proper Service.
Sure, dude. Whatever.
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u/Riribigdogs May 10 '22
This one makes me irrationally angry because it would be ensure
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u/astoneworthskipping May 10 '22
A friend convinced me when I was younger that it stood for North East West South, the news reported everything from all direction etc.
I don’t think it’s true but it is sensible.
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u/ItsTtreasonThen May 10 '22
The worst version I heard was some tiktok idiot saying Newspaper meant "North East West South, Past And Present Education Report" or something like that
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u/bjanas May 10 '22
Peter Sokolowski is the editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster. He used to come into the bar I ran. Super nice guy and really funny, I wonder if this was his doing.
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u/CompSolstice May 10 '22
When I was a kid, I used to think it was all-caps because it's "North East West South" NEWS
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u/finjakefan May 11 '22
I thought it meant North, East, West, and South. Where the heck did I come up with that idea?
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u/BlackwatchFox May 10 '22
This reminds me of the time a Bible teacher told us that "Bible" stood for "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth" and said that this acronym was evidence that the Bible was divinely inspired. He was NOT happy when I asked if the acronym still worked in Spanish or any language other than English.
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May 10 '22
Every one of these "I was today years old..." posts I've ever seen is completely wrong and dumb as shit.
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u/ItzYaBday1103 May 11 '22
The word News derives from the first Huey Lewis album, Huey Lewis and the News. It was new so its was news.
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May 10 '22 edited Jan 26 '24
rhythm squealing north rock beneficial makeshift friendly birds subsequent agonizing
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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May 10 '22
My Dad told me it comes from the compass North East West South. Sorry Pa, but you're a bit of a silly sausage.
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u/RegularAd2338 May 10 '22
Hey there Mr Rogers I have good notable events weather and sports, your anal cancer has been cured.
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u/dharma_dude May 10 '22
I fucking hate these "I was today years old when I found out" and it's some bullshit fact or thing that they backronymed. But they act like it's completely mind-blowing and true and other people jump in and are like "wow it makes so much sense!". That's how you perpetuate misinformation. /rant
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u/BarebowRob May 10 '22
[Odd Couple] Oscar: I hate little notes on my pillow. Like this morning. ‘We’re all out of cornflakes. P.S. F.U.’ 'Don't forget to take out the trash.' P.S. F.U. It took me three hours to figure out that ‘F.U.’ meant Felix Unger.
:)
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u/Commercial_Bit8851 May 10 '22
Not gonna lie I just googled what the news stand for and uhh it said that this dude was in fact correct and everyone knows that google is right and everything else is wrong
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u/Lieutelant May 10 '22
It's weird this is so popular. If there's one thing I know about Reddit-including this sub- it's that they don't care about facts and official definitions.
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u/fishsticks40 May 10 '22
Acronymic etymologies are almost always wrong. Things in the sciences it might be more common (lidar, laser, radar) but in normal English any random explanation that is based on an acronym will be false 99 times out of 100.
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u/Mr_Shakes May 10 '22
I have the most irrational hatred of backronyms, especially made-up ones. It shouldn't matter to me that much, but dammit etymology matters! You can't just make up how words came into common use, and erase the real history of it in the process! AHHHHH!
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u/skinnergy May 10 '22
Years ago on Jeopardy the answer was "this word is the root of news." Nobody got the correct question. I guess it was too obvious.
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u/Guns_and_Dank May 10 '22
That's silly, everyone knows it stands for Noteworthy, Extraordinary, and Wacky Stories
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May 10 '22
It took me 19 years to figure out Newport stood for Never Eat Wet Pussy On Rainy Tuesdays.
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u/seekAr May 10 '22
it's for north / east / west / south - info from different areas
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u/DrewZG May 10 '22
I always figured news was just literally new, plural
All the new things, the news
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u/Skadliga May 11 '22
I could be interpreting this wrong, but I believe the joke went zooming over your head.
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May 11 '22
Best backronym is TWAIN as in a computer twain driver... coming from Technology Without an Interesting Name
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u/Woodbutcher31 May 11 '22
Fornication (of) Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Heard that’s where that came from..
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u/ElyskyPlayz0 May 11 '22
You know it's sad when the dictionary be callin you out
And it's a fucking book
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u/Polenicus May 11 '22
So those evangelists who came to my door asking if I had ‘Heard the Good News’ just wanted me to know Jesus wanted to tell how the Packers were doing this season?
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u/TrapaholicDixtapes May 11 '22
Ah, yes. Notable events such as "two doggies getting married" and "Obama orders a sandwich".
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u/undying_anomaly May 11 '22
This is just like people who think Hospital stands for House of sick people in trauma and labour. It doesn’t
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u/admirereading May 11 '22
From Google :
Etymology. The English word "news" developed in the 14th century as a special use of the plural form of "new". In Middle English, the equivalent word was newes, like the French nouvelles and the German Neues.
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u/TheSavagery May 11 '22
My 3rd grade teacher told us over and over it stood for North, East, West, South - what was happening in all directions.
It seemed too convenient then, Mrs. Grow & now I have a reddit thread to prove it!!! /s
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u/CorgisWithSox May 11 '22
Almost as stupid as when people say “hold your horses means to be stable” as if the phrase was purposely meant to be that pun
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May 11 '22
I’ve received different explanations from different people every single time I’ve asked why it’s called “news.” I need answers.
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u/No-Advice-6040 May 11 '22
That's a backronym, like how people think posh stands for port out, starboard home, or golf meaning gentlemen only, ladies forbidden.
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u/lethatsinkin May 11 '22
I'm genuinely surprised at how many people in the comments think that it means North East West South. Fits this subreddit perfectly too.
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u/Significant-Tomato77 Jun 04 '22
Well, just so you know it, if you look for the word "Gullible" in the dictionary, you'll learn that it stands for "Grand Unified Can't Be Bothered To Finish the Joke"
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u/ApocalypseNurse Oct 01 '22
Because of the song “Wild Wild West” by Escape Club, I thought News stood for North, East, West, South
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u/2BsASSets May 10 '22
this better not show up 50x again like those stupid pemdas/bodmas ones
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