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What does backronym mean?

A backronym is an existing word that has been artificially made into an acronym, typically by matching each letter in it to a word to make a phrase that’s somehow related.An acronym is a word formed by abbreviating a phrase by combining certain letters of words in the phrase (often the first initial of each) into a single term. NASA is an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.To be clear, in backronyms, the letters don’t actually stand for the words they’re claimed or said to. Forming backronyms can be done for several reasons, such as to help remember how to spell the word, or, more frequently, to suggest a humorous or intentionally misleading explanation of its origin.A classic example of a misleading backronym involves the word posh, meaning “luxurious,” which is sometimes claimed to have come from an abbreviation of the phrase port out, starboard home. The story goes that the wealthiest passengers of ships would get to stay in cabins that faced this direction, and their tickets would be stamped with the letters POSH to indicate this—the supposed origin of the term posh. It’s possible that those letters have been stamped on a ticket, but there’s simply no evidence that this is where the word posh comes from.Less commonly, backronym is spelled bacronym.Example: I just saw a post claiming that the word car was originally an acronym for “catch a ride,” and I had to explain that it was a totally bogus backronym.