2258: Backronyms Feb 20, 2021

There are a number of words used today that are truly from acronyms, such as 'radar' ("radio detection and ranging") but there are many more that people believe to be from acronyms and aren't, like 'posh'. A term 'backronym' was coined to describe this phenomenon when people make an acronym out of a word which was not previously an acronym. This is sometimes used for folk etymology, but also for other reasons such as legal bills or organizations, such as the First Step Act which is technically an acronym for the otherwise quite awkward and cumbersome "Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act".

Write a comment with any other folk etymology backronyms you may know.