A backronym is an acronym created by back-formation from a word that was not previously an acronym. It may also be an alternative expansion of an existing acronym, often to comical effect. Backronym creation is a common form of wordplay. The word "backronym" is a portmanteau of back and acronym.
1 Not originally acronyms
Ahimsa is a religious concept which advocates non-violence and a respect for all life; it is Sanskrit for avoidance of himsa. Himsa is injury to sentient beings. It is commonly backronymed as "Abstinence from animal products, Harmlessness with reverence for life, Integrity of thought, word, and deed, Mastery over oneself, Service to humanity, nature, and creation, and Advancement of understanding and truth".
Gundam - In 2002's Gundam Seed and 2004's Gundam Seed Destiny, "Gundam" was backronymed to General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver (for Earth Alliance mobile suits). This was also expanded as Generation Unsubdued (or Unrestricted) Nuclear (or Network) Drive Assault Module (for ZAFT mobile suits)
Zaku - In 2004's Gundam Seed Destiny, "Zaku" was backronymed to ZAFT's Armored Keeper of Unity
Chrysler - Charged High Retail, You'll SubsidiseA subsidy is a grant or monetary gift given by a private person or entity (often a government) to another private person or entity, as financial assistance or to help launch an enterprise. Critics of government interventions in free markets often use a wi Lee's Early RetirementRetirement is the status of a worker who has stopped working. This usually happens upon reaching a determined age, when physical conditions don't allow the person to work any more (by illness or accident), or even for personal choice (usually in the prese
DeLorean - Don't Ever Lend One Rich Easterner Any Narcotics.
DodgeAlternate use: Dodge (disambiguation Dodge is an automobile and light to heavy duty truck brand name. History In 1901 John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge moved their Dodge Brothers Bicycle & Machine Factory to Detroit, Michigan. Their bearings and o - Drips Oil, Drops Grease, Everywhere. Dead Or Dying Gutless Engines.
Ford - Found On Rubbish Dump; Found On Road Dead; Fix Or Repair Daily; Fast Only Rolling Downhill; Fucker Only Runs Downhill; F'ed Over Rebuilt Dodge or Fuckin' Old Re-built Dodge and originally it was First On Race Day. An example of a reverse backronym is Driver Returning On Foot. (also fr: «fabrication ordinaire, réparation dispendieuse»)
Holden - Holes, Oil Leaks, Dents and Engine Noises
Plymouth - Please Let Your Mama Out Under The Hood
Pontiac - Poor Old Ninny Thinks It's a Cadillac (or the word "negro", sometimes replaced by the more offensive term nigger). "Nutjob" would also work, as would "Native".
Microsoft - My Incompetent Computer Randomly Operates Sensibly/Stupidly On Floating Point Tasks; Most Intelligent Customers Realise Our Software Only Fools Teenagers.
Macintosh - Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs.
Pentium - Produces Erroneous Numbers Through Incorrect Understanding of Math, PC Errors Not Tolerable I'd Use Macintosh
Perl - A high level scripting language common on Unix-like systems, with the common backronym of "Practical Extraction and Report Language", but jokingly referred to as the "Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister". Both expansions appear on the man page. More recently, "Parse Every Random Line", in honor of the extensions proposed for Perl 6. Another less colorful one is "Pathetic Excuse for a Real Language".
Ping - originally a reference to sonar, but now often said to mean "Packet InterNet Grouper".
Spam - originally a reference to the Monty PythonSpam sketch; has been interpreted as Stupid Person's AdvertiseMent; Stupid Puerile Ad Mail; Stuff (or Sewage) Posing As Mail; Send(ing) People Annoying Mail/Messages.
WINDOWS - WINDOWS Is Not a Defined Operating/Working System (it is actually a recursive backronym); Will Install Needless Data On Whole System.
1.4 Commerce
Acme is the canonical supplier of bizarre, elaborate, and non-functional gadgetry in Warner Brothers' Road Runner cartoons, commonly backronymed to "A (or American) Company Making (or Manufacturing) Everything".
Adidas - Used once as a marketing tagline for the athletic apparel maker -- All Day I Dream About Sports. Also title of a song by Korn: "All Day I Dream About Sex". A popular schoolground one in the UK is "After Dinner I Do A Shit". A well-known Spanish version would be: "Asociación De Idiotas Dispuestos A Superarse" (Association of idiots willing to get better).
Dynastar - Do You Need A Ski? Try A Rossignol. Dynastar is a French ski manufacturer, now owned by Rossignol.
The Arby's chain of restaurants was named after its founders; in the early 1980s the company launched an advertising campaign that used the backronym "America's Roast Beef, Yes Sir!"
1.5 Military & Police
Army - Aren't Real Men Yet or Aren't Ready for Marines Yet
Marine- Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential; My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment.
Cop - identified by some as "constable on patrol", this originally might not be an acronym at all but a reference to grabbing the alleged villain (sharing origins with "it's a fair cop" or even "to cop a feel") -- Origins murky - could be shortned form of "Copper" since badges were made from the material in certain cities when professional policing began.
Pig - When "pig" came into use as derogatory slang for a policeman, some of its targets retaliated by adopting the phrase "Pride, Integrity, Guts".
A3D was originally a designation of a United States Navystrategic bomber. The bomber had a three-man crew, and lacked ejection seats; it was thus jokingly surmised that the name meant "All Three Dead."
Buffalo Bills (football) - Boy, I Lose Lots of Superbowls
2 Re-interpreted acronyms
2.1 Automotive
BMW - Big Money Waster; Break My Windows; Basic Marin Wheels, Best Machines in the World, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Black Man's Wheels (in UK Afro-Caribbean culture), Break My Wallet, Be My Wife. A reverse backronym is Wanted Mercedes-Benz; the Germans call it Bayerische Mistwerke (Bavarian Muck (dung) Works), "Bring Mir Werkstatt" (Bring Me to Workshop - or take me to the car service) or "Bayerischer Mistwagen" (Bavarian Manure Wagon - dung or crap car).
Fiat - Fix It Again Tomorrow; Fix It Again Tony; Found In A Trashbin; Futile Italian Attempt at Transportation; Fucking Idiot Asshole Towncar or Failure In Automotive Technology
Qantas - Queer And Nice Types of Air Steward; Queens And Nymphomanics Trained As Stewards (originally Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Service)
TACA - Take A Chance Airlines (TACA is also (intentionally) an acronym for Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos, or Central American Air Transport).
TWA - Try Walking Across; Teeny Weeny Airlines; Third World Airlines.
2.3 Computing
APL - A Perfect Language, A Preposterous Language, Another Programming Language, and others.
BASIC - Bill's Attempt to Seize Industry Control, Banal Annoyingly Slow Interpretive Computing
COBOL - Completely Obscure, Basically Obsolete Language
IBM - Inferior But Marketable; It's Better Manually; Insidious Black Magic; It's Been Malfunctioning; Incontinent Bowel Movement; I Blame Microsoft see OS2); I Buy Macintosh; I've Been Moved (by 1950s and 1960s employees in reference to frequent relocations)
LISP - Lots of Irritating Superfluous Parentheses (alternatively Silly/Stupid Parentheses); Lost In a Sea of Parentheses; Lots of Idiotic, Silly Parentheses after its syntax involving a lot of parentheses indeed.
GNVQ - Generally Not Very Qualified. Going Nowhere Very Quickly.
UNLV - Unfortunately No Longer Virgins (the official meaning of hiphopgroup UNLV 's name). In the city of Vancouver, WA, this has become "University of Never Leaving Vancouver," likewise with the University of Las Vegas in Nevada.
UMBC - Sometimes refer to as: Under Major Building Construction or UMust Be Crazy.
NEPA - The Nigerian National Electric Power Authority, which because of its variable quality of service is commonly called Never Expect Power Anywhere or No Electric Power Anticipated. When the company became a public limited company and changed its formal name to NEPA PLC, the backronym was changed to No Electric Power Available, Please Light Candle.
NFG - (if the customer asks) New, Fully Guaranteed
2.6 Military & Police
BATF - Burn All The Families or FBI - Federal Bureau of Incineration (in reference to the Waco disaster)
RESPECT The Unity Coalition, a left wing political party in the UK where RESPECT was later explained officially as Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community and Trade Unionism, or among its opponents as Recently Expelled Scottish Politician Endorses Communist Tyranny [1].
FCC - During the heyday of citizen's band radio, those who operated illegally or on the edge of the law called the Federal Communications Commission the Friendly Candy Company or Fat Chance Charlie.
DVB - Deficient Video Bandwidth, Definitely Very Boring, Delivering Virtually Bull****
DVD - Damaged Video Display, Delivers Virtual Dreck - in computing and audio, "Digital Versatile Disc" is a valid backronym for what was originally a digital video disc; the DVD Consortium supposedly has never claimed that the letters DVD stood for anything specific.
VHS - Virtually Hopeless Signal (originally Video Home System)
NTSC - Never The Same Color; Never Twice the Same Color; Never Tested Since Christ.
VOCM - The Dominion of Newfoundland radio callsign prefix VO has typically been backronymed as "voice of", so VOCM would be the "Voice Of Church (of) Mary" or (if one were being critical) "Voice Of Complete Morons"
WABC - We'll Always Be Crying, We'll Always Be Cynical