Backronym

Not to be confused with retronym.
Humorous example of a backronym used by NASA to name a treadmill on the International Space Station, in reference to American comedian Stephen Colbert

A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym.[1]

A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase,[2] such as radar from "radio detection and ranging".[3] By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin".[1] Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the James Bond franchise.

For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996.[4] Officials later publicized the backronym "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response".[5]

  1. ^ a b "Backronym – Definition of backronym in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries – English. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "Acronym". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  3. ^ NASA. "RADAR means: Radio Detection and Ranging". Nasa Explores. Archived from the original on 2004-01-28.
  4. ^ "AmberAdvocate.org: AMBER Alert history" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
  5. ^ "AMBER Alert – America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response". Amberalert.gov. 2007-11-01. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-08.