Complimentary close
Quite a while back, I read a story (perhaps in the New Yorker or some such?) in which one character would write letters to another, and would sign off with...
Archive for Acronyms
Molon labe
Just happened across the Greek phrase "Μολων λαβε" (not sure how to get the accent marks to appear in HTML), often transliterated "molon labe." Apparently it was King Leonidas's response...
EDNOS
EDNOS turns out to be an acronym for Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Which isn't at all unusual in itself, but I'm kind of amused by the idea that someone...
quango
Turns out that quango, also spelled qango, is an acronym for "quasi non-governmental organization" or "quasi-autonomous NGO." Looks like the term is fairly common in the UK and elsewhere, but...
Acronyms in a song
A few weeks back, I heard a country song on the radio in which the singer sang: I smell T.R.O, you B.L.E. I puzzled for a while over what T.R.O....
TASER
According to a variety of sources, the word "TASER" was coined as an acronym for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle." Apparently the Taser's inventor was a fan of the Tom...
BLEVE
On a video about an explosion, I heard an announcer use a term that sounded like "blevvies." I got curious and Googled it; turns out it's an acronym. According to...
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)
Apparently the term "UFO" is out; in its place, "UAP," for "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," is gaining popularity. Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune says: The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the term...
LSD
I always vaguely wondered how "lysergic acid diethylamide" got abbreviated as "LSD." I think I figured (or had been told) that the S came from "lySergic," but that didn't make...