Apposite acronyms

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

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.

The governments high level “emergency” council.

COBRA

Cockwombles Obsvicate Banalities Repeatedly Ad-infinitum

My dad worked on a project for a large telescope a while back – “Over-Whelmingly Large” (OWL)

All women military unit: fany

Its “opposite” BTW….YW

Its “opposite” BTW….YW

No it’s not. “Apposite” means apt or appropriate. “Opposite” means, erm, the opposite.

Bentley once used BQA as a codename for a new car.
Bloody quick Arnage.

lucien – Member
Its “opposite” BTW….YW

Ha! Pedanticalness fail!

There’s always the BFG in Doom, of course. It’s short for ‘rather large gun’.

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”.

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. 😀

Its “opposite” BTW….YW

should read ‘It’s’ BTW

In similar vain, whilst probably apocryphal, Royal Caribbean claimed to have used the codenamed moniker SFB for their most recent ships – “seriously fooking 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 **** 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 here.

lucien – Member

Its “opposite” BTW….YW

Worst pendant evarz

SNAFU is “situation normal: all effed up” is it not?

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.

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…)

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…

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”.

Closure codes in the world of IT

PEBCAK – Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard

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.

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”

Medical records round here may – allegedly – include the acronym NFI which means “normal for Ilkeston”.

Bentley once used BQA as a codename for a new car.
Bloody quick Arnage.

That’s an initialism, not an acronym.

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.

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 GuardianST.

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

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.

Seen as it’s already been derailed, I always loved TLA, i.e. three letter abbreviation …

No to the OPs question but I like this one ….
Caravan Utilising Nomadic Travelers

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.