Amusing acronyms
Discussion
davhill said:
I know of a couple of these from WW2, anyone know any more?
The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) was the precursor to the Home Guard. Members said it meant Look, Duck and Vanish.
And the RASC (Royal Artillery Signals Corps) was better known as Run Away Someone's Coming.
Neither of those are acronyms.The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) was the precursor to the Home Guard. Members said it meant Look, Duck and Vanish.
And the RASC (Royal Artillery Signals Corps) was better known as Run Away Someone's Coming.
An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
eg ALARM (Air Lauched Anti Radiation Missile).
Furthermore RASC did not stand for "Royal Artillery Signals Corps" but Royal Army Service Corps and was the forerunner to the RCT (Royal Corps of Transport - nicknamed 'Rickshaws, Cabs and Taxis') and RAOC (Royal Army Ordnance Corps - nicknamed Rag and Oil Company), latterly both becoming part of the RLC (Royal Logistic Corps - nicknamed 'Right Load of Cxxxs').
Yes MInister on Foreign Office honours -
Bernard: CMG - Call Me God, KCMG - Kindly Call Me God.
Hacker: “What about GCMG?”
Bernard: “God Calls Me God.”
The official definition is Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. Ranks in the Order are Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GCMG), Knight or Dame Commander (KCMG or DCMG) and Companion (CMG).
Bernard: CMG - Call Me God, KCMG - Kindly Call Me God.
Hacker: “What about GCMG?”
Bernard: “God Calls Me God.”
The official definition is Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. Ranks in the Order are Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GCMG), Knight or Dame Commander (KCMG or DCMG) and Companion (CMG).
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
.
Almost right.
An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word - ASCII is a recognised acronym as is NATO
Unless OED are wrong again......
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11433-0...
A paper discussing Structural and electronic properties of chiral single-wall copper nanotubes - not sure the authors through their abbreviation through for Copper nanotubes.
A paper discussing Structural and electronic properties of chiral single-wall copper nanotubes - not sure the authors through their abbreviation through for Copper nanotubes.
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
Neither of those are acronyms.
An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
If we're on the pedantry train, an abbreviation does not need to form a recognisable word, it just needs to be pronounced as a word.An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
I.E. R.A.C. is pronounced as its individual letters rather than as "rack" so it's not an acronym, NATO is pronounced as "nah-toe" or "nay-toe" depending on your level of poshness, so it is an acronym.
You were right that they weren't acronyms, they were initialisms.
There's a University in Perth, Western Australia called the Curtain University of Technology... It was originally planned to be called the Curtain University of New Technology.
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
.
.
NormalWisdom said:
Almost right
An acronym is an abbreviation
Oh look, I used the term abreviation.An acronym is an abbreviation
NormalWisdom said:
formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word
Oh look further, I used the term initialisation.
So, in your patronising attempt to correct me you've said just what I did.
NormalWisdom said:
ASCII is a recognised acronym as is NATO
As is RADAR. They are now because, owing to common usage, they have become words, they weren't originally.NormalWisdom said:
Unless OED are wrong again......
Try comprehension as well as reading.
JuniorD said:
What I don't like are contrived acronyms that are deliberately designed to be especially apt for the thing being named. So there.
If I understand you properly, this might come under that heading, but probably not.When I was doing The Knowledge, to get my Green Badge, and become a Black Cab driver, I attended a “Knowledge School” in Brixton Road.
Students would discuss various routes, can you turn right here etc., and are U turns allowed there, an instructor would ask questions, e.g., “Bob, name the quickest route from Southwark Coroners Court, to the U.S. Embassy.”
He told us a way to remember which theatre came first in Shaftesbury Avenue, going in from Piccadilly Circus, was to think, Little Apples Grow Quickly, L, A, G, Q, Lyric, Apollo, Globe, Queens, personally I’d call that a mnemonic.
Incidentally, when the Globe changed its name to the Gielgud, L, A, G, Q. still worked.
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
An acronym is an initialisation or abreviation that forms a recogniseable word.
.
.
NormalWisdom said:
Almost right
An acronym is an abbreviation
Oh look, I used the term abreviation.An acronym is an abbreviation
NormalWisdom said:
formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word
Oh look further, I used the term initialisation.
So, in your patronising attempt to correct me you've said just what I did.
NormalWisdom said:
ASCII is a recognised acronym as is NATO
As is RADAR. They are now because, owing to common usage, they have become words, they weren't originally.NormalWisdom said:
Unless OED are wrong again......
Try comprehension as well as reading.captain_cynic said:
There's a University in Perth, Western Australia called the Curtain University of Technology... It was originally planned to be called the Curtain University of New Technology.
When I was at Loughborough University of Technology there was a bit of a campaign going to get it renamed Loughborough University of Science and Technology JuniorD said:
What I don't like are contrived acronyms that are deliberately designed to be especially apt for the thing being named. So there.
Like my company. Originally had two products, Emerald and Diamond. They called the company GEMS then contrived:- Generic Electronic Measurement Systems to make it fit! 
In the 80s/90s I worked for a rather splendid manufacturer of micro computers. A visit to HQ near Boston one year coincided with the inter-region baseball final. The North American District Sales (NADS - Not in itself anything to write home about) were in the final. Hilariously (to me at least), the cheerleaders were on the sidelines belting out their "cheer";
"Go-NADS, Go-NADS, Go-NADS, GO"!!
"Go-NADS, Go-NADS, Go-NADS, GO"!!
Flippin' Kipper said:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11433-0...
A paper discussing Structural and electronic properties of chiral single-wall copper nanotubes - not sure the authors through their abbreviation through for Copper nanotubes.
I've read the abstract and now everyone in the office is looking at me!A paper discussing Structural and electronic properties of chiral single-wall copper nanotubes - not sure the authors through their abbreviation through for Copper nanotubes.
Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff