History FunWithAcronyms / RealLife

* The white supremacist group '''W'''hite '''A'''ryan '''R'''esistance. A subversion, given the exogamy of pre-Christian Nordic peoples and their practices of BloodBrothers and adoption (and the fact that before being introduced to Abrahamic faiths, nobody hated the Jews in particular more than anybody else), Nick Berg's killers belonged to '''W'''ill '''O'''f '''T'''he '''A'''ryan '''N'''ation.

* American Indians in the sixties started '''C'''oncerned '''I'''ndian '''A'''mericans, which became the '''A'''merican '''I'''ndian '''M'''ovement.

* Though not all of the animals in these taxa have baculums, these are the orders with baculums: '''P'''rimates, '''R'''odents, '''I'''nsectivores, '''C'''arnivores, and '''C'''hiroptera. A baculum is a penis bone.

* [[http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/E046983/1 The EPIC (Evidence-based Practices Informing Computing) project]]

* Acronym can itself be an Acronym, '''A'''bbreviated '''C'''oded '''R'''endition '''O'''f '''N'''ame '''Y'''ielding '''M'''eaning.
** Though this, of course, is what's called a "{{backronym}}."
** Isn't acronym just a portmanteau of acrostic name?
*** Wiktionary suggests acronym is from the Greek for "sharp name" or "peak name". Not sure if it qualifies as an portmanteau.
** So Backronym would be '''B'''ackdoor '''A'''bbreviated '''C'''oded & '''K'''ool '''R'''endition '''O'''f '''N'''ame '''Y'''ielding '''M'''eaning.

*** A lot of cities with light rail go out of their way to create acronyms like that. Portland Oregon has MAX ('''M'''etro '''A'''rea e'''X'''press), Atlanta has MARTA, and so on.

** '''MAN''' '''P'''ortable '''A'''ir '''D'''efense '''S'''ystem. '''MANPADS''' * giggles* .
* You cannot leave any discussion of silly-sounding military acronyms without mentioning the one describing the FIM-92 Stinger and its class of weapons: '''M.A.N.P.A.D.S.''', or '''Man''' '''P'''ortable '''A'''ir '''D'''efense '''S'''ystem. It may be something all low-flying combat aircraft fear, but that doesn't stop it from sounding like underwear liners for guys.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot#Patriot_equipment Patriot]] Missiles have the '''R''adio '''L'''ogic '''R'''outing '''I'''nterface '''U'''nit (pronounced ROO-LE-ROO) and '''S'''witch '''M'''ultiplexor '''U'''nit (pronounced Schmoo) try telling your fellow (non-air defense) soldiers that the[[CloudCuckooLander RLRIU is up but the SMU is down....]]

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot#Patriot_equipment Patriot]] Missiles have the '''R''adio '''L'''ogic '''R'''outing '''I'''nterface '''U'''nit [[ItIsPronouncedTro-PAY (pronounced ROO-LE-ROO) ]]and '''S'''witch '''M'''ultiplexor '''U'''nit (pronounced Schmoo) try telling your fellow (non-air defense) soldiers that the[[CloudCuckooLander RLRIU is up but the SMU is down....]]

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot#Patriot_equipment Patriot]] Missiles have the '''R''adio '''L'''ogic '''R'''outing '''I'''nterface '''U'''nit (pronounced ROO-LE-ROO) and '''S'''witch '''M'''ultiplexor '''U'''nit (pronounced Schmoo) try telling your fellow (non-air defense) soldiers that the RLRIU is up but the SMU is down....

* The Scotland Yard computer system is the '''H'''ome '''O'''ffice '''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment L]]'''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment arge]] '''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment M]]'''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment ajor]] '''E'''nquiry '''S'''ystem. Because '''HOES''' would just be silly.

* [http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/E046983/1 The EPIC (Evidence-based Practices Informing Computing) project]

* Golf is widely believed to be an acronym of '''G'''entlemen '''O'''nly, '''L'''adies '''F'''orbidden, but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf this is not actually the case]].

*** During slow days, the last three are collected with some other stations under the monikers '''[[GreekMythology A]]'''[[GreekMythology tmosphere, ]]'''[[GreekMythology T]]'''[[GreekMythology hermal, ]]'''[[GreekMythology L]]'''[[GreekMythology ighting and ]]'''[[GreekMythology A]]'''[[GreekMythology rticulation ]]'''[[GreekMythology S]]'''[[GreekMythology pecialist, and ]]'''[[GreekMythology T]]'''[[GreekMythology elemetry, ]]'''[[GreekMythology I]]'''[[GreekMythology nformation ]]'''[[GreekMythology T]]'''[[GreekMythology ransfer, and ]]'''[[GreekMythology A]]'''[[GreekMythology ttitude ]]'''[[GreekMythology N]]'''[[GreekMythology avigation]].

* RichardNixon's '''C'''ommittee to '''Re'''-'''E'''lect the '''P'''resident, known as CREEP even before the [[{{Scandalgate}} Watergate scandal]].

* '''HOMES''' is a RealLife acronym for remembering the names of the Great Lakes: '''H'''uron, '''O'''ntario, '''M'''ichigan, '''E'''rie, '''S'''uperior.
** Similarly, '''A'''nti-lock '''B'''rake '''S'''ystem; a backronym in English, preserving the original TLA. The core technology was designed in Germany by Bosch, who called it '''A'''nti'''b'''lockier'''s'''ystem.

* NASA's '''C'''ombined '''O'''perational '''L'''oad-'''B'''earing '''E'''xternal '''R'''esistance '''T'''readmill, to be deployed on the Interantional Space Station this summer. [[TheColbertReport It wasn't his first choice, but...]]

* Dublin has a light rail system called '''D'''ublin '''A'''rea '''R'''apid '''T'''ransit.

* AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

** And for Filipinos, it means '''M'''oro '''I'''slamic '''L'''iberation '''F'''ront.

* In a similar vein, [[ParcaKnight this humble contributor]] got a small chuckle every time he looked at the phone listing on his desk and spotted the listing for the '''W'''ashington '''A'''ir '''N'''ational '''G'''uard detachment. Funnier in that it wasn't actually spelled out; you just had to guess by context what sort of WANG you were calling for.

** Likewise, Belgium has the '''K'''atholieke '''U'''niversiteit '''L'''euven, which gets shortened to '''KULeuven''', and not '''KUL'''. Because ''kul'' is Dutch for ''nonsense''.

* An Islamist group in the southern Philippines is titled '''M'''oro '''I'''slamic '''L'''iberation '''F'''ront.

** [[spoiler:Prime BEEF troops like to refer to RED HORSE units as "[[EmbarassingNickname Pink Pony Squadrons]]", [[ButIDigress but that's besides the point]].]]

* Scuba - Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
* SCRAM: Safety Control Rod Axe-Man - an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor (and is precisely what you'd want to do in the event of a meltdown..)
* Laser - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

* CD-ROM - Compact Disc-Read Only Memory
* MILF -Man, I Like Food!

* '''LASER''': '''L'''ight '''A'''mplification by '''S'''timulated '''E'''mission of '''R'''adiation. [[{{Kirby}} (And it]] [[ReflectingLaser bounces off walls,]] [[{{Kirby}} too!)]]
** Most people don't even known that's an acronym. And often misspell it "lazer" as well.
*** Strictly speaking the light is Oscillated, not Amplified, but that would end up being... silly

** '''S'''orry, '''w'''e '''a'''ren’t '''t'''rained.
** '''S'''orry, '''w'''e '''a'''re '''t'''errorist.

** '''S'''orry '''W'''e '''A'''re '''T'''urd.
** '''S'''ugod, '''W'''ait, '''A'''tras, '''T'''ago. (attack, wait, retreat, hide)

* Scuba is normally accepted as an ordinary word nowadays, but originally stood for '''S'''elf '''C'''ontained '''U'''nderwater '''B'''reathing '''A'''pparatus.

** So Backronym would be '''B'''ackdoor '''A'''bbreviated '''C'''oded '''R'''endition '''O'''f '''N'''ame '''Y'''ielding '''M'''eaning.

* There's apparently a computer-based analysis tool for '''N'''onnumerical, '''U'''nstructured '''D'''ata '''I'''ndexing, '''S'''earching, and '''T'''heorizing. In what is probably an attempt to not look too crude, the official acronym used by research papers throws in an asterisk in the middle to be NUD* IST...

* The '''M'''assive '''O'''rdnance '''A'''ir '''B'''last bomb, or as it?s better known to people who know about it, '''M'''other '''o'''f '''A'''ll '''B'''ombs, was the largest conventional bomb when it was created in 2003. In case the above examples haven?t made it sufficiently clear, the U.S. government as we know it today ''thrives'' off this trope. [[spoiler:Afterwards, the Russians decided to one-up this with the even bigger ?[[CompletelyMissingThePoint father of all bombs]].?]]

* MILF -Man, I Like Food!

* MILF - YouShouldKnowThisAlready