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backronym (BAK-ruh-nim) - n., an acronym formed for an already existing word.
Both the phrase and the word itself are called backronyms. The classic example is posh, which was later (incorrectly) explained by folk etymology as an acronym of "port out, starboard home." Some backronyms are contrived to make an organization, proposal, etc. more memorable. My favorite is the Apgar score, named after Dr Virginia Apgar but later turned into the mnemonic of Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration for what is being scored. Coined by Meredith G. Williams, the November 1983 winner of a monthly neologism contest held by The Washington Post, who defined it as the "same as an acronym, except that the words were chosen to fit the letters."
Confession: I usually pronounce it BAK-roh-nim, and similarly lengthen the O of acronym.
---L.
Both the phrase and the word itself are called backronyms. The classic example is posh, which was later (incorrectly) explained by folk etymology as an acronym of "port out, starboard home." Some backronyms are contrived to make an organization, proposal, etc. more memorable. My favorite is the Apgar score, named after Dr Virginia Apgar but later turned into the mnemonic of Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration for what is being scored. Coined by Meredith G. Williams, the November 1983 winner of a monthly neologism contest held by The Washington Post, who defined it as the "same as an acronym, except that the words were chosen to fit the letters."
Confession: I usually pronounce it BAK-roh-nim, and similarly lengthen the O of acronym.
---L.
