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Very Bad ACRONYMS

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Mr3Putt

Programmer
May 27, 2003
320
IN
I dunno about you, but I am driven mad by poorly done or "forced" acronyms.

The one currently in my bonnet is "NORAD", or, the "North American Aerospace Defense Command".

Now, I'm sorry, but there is no $%@^& way that the above phrase can be represented by N-O-R-A-D. [gray]NORthamerican Aerospace Defense command[/gray]

Worse (to my way of thinking) is the way they represent their acronym here. Check out the upper left link list...

N: who we are
O: in focus
R: newsroom
A: for kids only
D: NORAD links

WHAT? Had they left out the colons :)), it'd be better, but still awful.

So, anybody got horrible Acronyms out there?

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]
 
The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. Any acronym with ten letters is too long.
 
Yes, too long by half. It is, at the very least, accurate.

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]
 
May be accurate, but it's also somewhat redundant.

Uniting and Strengthening?
Appropriate andRequired?
Intercept and Obstruct?

I think the applicable description for this type of acronym is contrived: "Hey, guys, we need an acronym for 'USA PATRIOT Act.'" That's not really an acronym, but the reverse (converse? inverse? obverse?).


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
tsdragon - The term (I hesistate to use word because it may not be there yet) is "backronym".

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
OutStanding!!! That's a terrific neologism!


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
Backronym - my new favorite word for the week.
 
And in the case of USA PATRIOT, it was definitely a hack-ronym.
 
If you want bad acronyms, join the gov't or better yet, the military. Still haven't figured out how TDY stands for Temporary Duty Unit. How about United States Army - Airforce Central Command - US Army Europe: USAACCUSAE.
NCOIC: Non Commisioned Office In Charge.



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!
 
BocaBurger said:
Still haven't figured out how TDY stands for Temporary Duty Unit.

Maybe they knew there were already eleven military uses of the acronym TDU, and they didn't want to make it a dozen, because that would be confusing. :)

Rod Knowlton
IBM Certified Advanced Technical Expert pSeries and AIX 5L
CompTIA Linux+
CompTIA Security+

 
I'm not sure that 'unit' is part of TDY. I was under the impression it was simply 'Temporary DutY'.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
No, my TDY was the 2nd of the 62nd Battalion 10th ADARTYGP: Air Defense Artillery Group, 32nd Army Air Defense Command: AADCOM, my Duty Unit was the 6th of 62nd Battalion 10th ADARTYGP, 32nd AADCOM.
I was an NCOIC, at a BOC (Battalion Operations Center).



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!
 
Terms of Loquacious Acrobats?

Temporal Logic of Actions?

Total Loser Acronyms?
 
Okay, back to the 70's, anyone?

There was the New Orleans Coalition Against Registration and the Draft, or NO-CARD.

Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!

 
How about the Coprolite Research Association of PaleoScatologists? I'll let you do the acronym. I doubt this is a real one, I think it's one my dad and his friends made up at work (they were geologists) when they got bored. But it's still amusing.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard. [dragon]
 
We have a system in work called TROPOS. Before this system was implemented all our software was written in-house so we affectionately claimed that TROPOS stood for 'To Replace Our Pile Of ****'. They've also recently released the Tropos Web Application Tool (no joke)

Gez



Sorry, did I say something wrong? Pardon me for breathing which I never do anyway so I don't know why I bother to say it Oh God I'm so depressed - Marvin, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 
Automotive is another good souce (i.e. GM) for these puppies. My favorite CHIMSL (add an e between S & L to make it pronoucable) Center HIgh Mounted Stop Lamp. Our favorite 3rd brake light on every car now.
 
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