She was unfamiliar with the expression, and asked:
See u next tuesday, meaning he’s too busy to talk? Or c.u. next tuesday?Which is brilliant. But it got me thinking. I wonder, what is the word for the antonym of “acronym”? I bet Harry Orsman would have known.
I use ‘caring understanding nurturing type’.
UPDATE: Mary McCallum has the answer in the comments. The word, she says, is “bacronym”.
UPDATE 2: Lew from Kiwipolitico has further suggestions for the bacronym in question.
UPDATE: This afternoon I drive to Auckland (boo!) to fly to Melbourne for a couple of days (yay!) to attend a funeral (boo!) but I will be able to catch up with my old friends Brent and Co – no, that isn’t a company, it’s their names – and even go to a “gig” to see Co play guitar (yay!). Just like old times. So, no blogging for a bit.
I like this - never heard of either before... did a google, and I reckon what you're talking about Stephen is this:
ReplyDeleteBacronym - The reverse of producing an acronym; taking a word which already exists and creating a phrase (usually humorous) using the letters of the word as initials: e.g. Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody (BANANA), Guaranteed Overnight Delivery (GOD).
• From back(wards) + acronym.
Perfect. That is it. Thanks, Mary.
ReplyDeleteThere is probably a bacronym for "bacronym". Which would be a meta-bacronym. And then, of course, there would have to be a bacronym for "meta-bacronym". But I think I will quit while I'm ahead.
And isnt that wonderful info *totally* useless?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read nearly all US military acronyms are 'bacronyms' - military and industry alike cheat them so they sound cool. The better it reads, the more likely it is to get funding.
ReplyDeleteIn peacetime however these same acronyms benefit crossword editors the world over. Ploughsharing, of a sort.
Popular in certain retail circles is the statement that the 'customer understands nothing today'.
ReplyDeleteIn call centres or when referring to talkback, substitute 'caller'.
In the blogosphere, I think it's usually fair to substitute 'commenter'.
When referring to letters-to-the-editor or similar, substitute 'correspondent'.
When referring to the police, substitute 'constable', with extra points for recursion.
And so on. The possibilities are almost endless.
L
Thank you Lew - the context-sensitive bacronym is an excellent idea. Which means I shall steal it.
ReplyDeletereally old ones could be anachronyms
ReplyDelete