What is a bacronym?
Can anyone define this English language term with our looking it up?

(For ESL students) (Not you Jura)*without looking it up?.......I still can't type.A backronym is an alternate meaning given to an existing acronym.The word backronym is a blend of backward and acronym, and has been defined as a "reverse acronym". For example, SOS is a nautical distress signal, but one of it's backronyms is Sh*t On a Shingle, which refers to bad navy food. There are two spellings, backronym is currently the most common spelling. I found bacronym in a British dictionary so maybe the spelling is British English.

Question

What is a bacronym?
Can anyone define this English language term with our looking it up?


(For ESL students) (Not you Jura)*without looking it up?.......I still can't type.A backronym is an alternate meaning given to an existing acronym.The word backronym is a blend of backward and acronym, and has been defined as a "reverse acronym". For example, SOS is a nautical distress signal, but one of it's backronyms is Sh*t On a Shingle, which refers to bad navy food. There are two spellings, backronym is currently the most common spelling. I found bacronym in a British dictionary so maybe the spelling is British English.

Answer

Without looking it up, I guess that the term 'bacronym' might be a form of Acronym where parts of the words in the Acronym are used, as compared to only the initials. For e.g., if 'HS' was the Acronym for the word 'High Systems', then 'HiSys' might be a bacronym.

Just a very very wild guess, because I didn't look it up, I swear. :-) google is my BFF! :-)

Answer

A backronym is an alternate meaning given to an existing acronym.The word backronym is a blend of backward and acronym, and has been defined as a "reverse acronym".  For example, SOS is a nautical distress signal, but one of it's backronyms is Sh*t On a Shingle, which refers to bad navy food. 

There are two spellings, backronym is currently the most common spelling.  I found bacronym in a British dictionary so maybe the spelling is British English.

Answer

This is what I found Scott:
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed after the fact to make an existing word or words into an acronym. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.

Answer

Would saying the word out loud help with guessing? :)

Answer

I don't know, but "-nym" part shows that it is of Greek origin. 
Probably, something connected to linguistics: like "synonym", "antonym", "homonym"...

Answers · 7

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