Apposite acronyms
 

[Closed] Apposite acronyms

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I just read about the 'British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS)'.
Made me laugh anyway. Do we have any other examples?


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 7:41 am
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When the Hubble telescope was originally deployed, it wouldn't focus properly. NASA sent up, basically, a pair of glasses for it. The fix was called the "Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement," or "COSTAR".

NASA is awash with them.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 7:46 am
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The governments high level "emergency" council.

COBRA

Cockwombles Obsvicate Banalities Repeatedly Ad-infinitum


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:33 am
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My dad worked on a project for a large telescope a while back - "Over-Whelmingly Large" (OWL)


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:34 am
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All women military unit: [url= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aid_Nursing_Yeomanry ]fany[/url]


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:35 am
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Its "opposite" BTW....YW


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:39 am
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Its "opposite" BTW....YW

No it's not. "Apposite" means apt or appropriate. "Opposite" means, erm, the opposite.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:44 am
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Bentley once used BQA as a codename for a new car.
Bloody quick Arnage.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:47 am
 DezB
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lucien - Member
Its "opposite" BTW....YW

Ha! Pedanticalness fail!


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:48 am
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There's always the BFG in Doom, of course. It's short for 'rather large gun'.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 10:59 am
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The governments high level "emergency" council.

COBRA

Which actually stands for "Cabinet Office Briefing Room A", not nearly as exciting as it should be!

There's the large telescope array in Chile, the VLT, or "Very Large Telescope".


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:02 am
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There's always the BFG in Doom, of course. It's short for 'rather large gun'.

I have it on good authority that a certain model of car made it all the way to production with a "BFO Battery" on the designs.

Apparently management only cottoned on to the meaning when a marketing goon wanted to know what it stood for so he could put it in the promotional blurb. 😀


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:15 am
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Its "opposite" BTW....YW

should read 'It's' BTW


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:20 am
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In similar vain, whilst probably apocryphal, Royal Caribbean claimed to have used the codenamed moniker SFB for their most recent ships - "seriously ****ing big".

Not particularly apposite, but I did some media training some years ago too, part of which was around not using acronyms/jargon in public unless you're absolutely clear on the meaning/origin. The example given was that a police force used to refer to petty crimes carried out by lowlife scum as "SNAF" crime, derived from SNAFU - in this context "sub-normal and ****ing useless", it became part of the lexicon, without real consideration for what it actually meant. Eventually someone used it in an interview, and was then questioned on what it meant. Not ideal.

Also not necessarily apposite, but amusing, there are plenty of good medical ones [url= http://messybeast.com/dragonqueen/medical-acronyms.htm ]here[/url].


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:21 am
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lucien - Member

Its "opposite" BTW....YW

Worst pendant evarz


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:28 am
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SNAFU is "situation normal: all effed up" is it not?


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:28 am
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Yep, hence saying in that particular context it wasn't, but the actual meaning of the acronym had been lost, and it was just banded about casually.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:43 am
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SNAFU is "situation normal: all effed up" is it not?

every day a school day. i always thought it stood for stupid nonsensical administrative fark up... (from Catch 22? been over 30 years since I read it though...)


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:49 am
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Yep, hence saying in that particular context it wasn't, but the actual meaning of the acronym had been lost, and it was just banded about casually.

Aaah, understood. Cool.

from Catch 22?

Wow, yes, you're right. I knew it from my old Shadowrun RPG days...


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 11:58 am
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Again, not particularly apposite, made me chuckle at the time. When it became possible/easier for patients to obtain their medical records, GPs were advised to cut back their use of acronyms. The best one I heard about was "TEETH", or "Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy".


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 12:14 pm
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Closure codes in the world of IT

PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 12:24 pm
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So to answer the OP's question:

Do we have any other examples?

It's a resounding no, but we have lots of amusing examples of acronyms and initialisms.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 12:28 pm
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Closure codes in the world of IT

PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard

I also like the alternative - PICNIC

"Problem In Chair Not In Computer"


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 1:37 pm
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[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 1:46 pm
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Medical records round here may - allegedly - include the acronym NFI which means "normal for Ilkeston".


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 1:50 pm
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Bentley once used BQA as a codename for a new car.
Bloody quick Arnage.

That's an initialism, not an acronym.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 1:51 pm
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Medical records round here may - allegedly - include the acronym NFI which means "normal for Ilkeston".

No doubt a derivative of the more common "Normal for Norfolk".

That's an initialism, not an acronym.

Like a good number on this thread.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 1:51 pm
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I'm waiting on the Channel 4 dystopian epic where men caught discussing "samanthas arse" in the pub are arrested and sodomised with a mouldy Edit [s]Guardian[/s]ST.

Like 1984, burning Helmut Newton and Viz alike. Dear me, what a fuss.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 3:45 pm
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I'm waiting on the Channel 4 dystopian epic where men caught discussing "samanthas arse" in the pub are arrested

No no, you misunderstand. They were discussing Samantha Janus.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 4:17 pm
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Seen as it's already been derailed, I always loved TLA, i.e. three letter abbreviation ...


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 4:36 pm
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No to the OPs question but I like this one ....
Caravan Utilising Nomadic Travelers


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 5:38 pm
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On a recent INSET day as a teacher we were being sold the benefits of High Impact Teaching. It had me wondering if I might already be a Super High Impact Teaching practitioner.


 
Posted : 04/08/2014 5:47 pm