History FunWithAcronyms / RealLife

** The German FAP ('''F'''reiheitliche [Deutsche] '''A'''rbeiter '''P'''artei), long forgotten by history after being outlawed as too fascist, did not go unnoticed either -- [[Webcomic/SexyLosers fittingly as fanart on the site who coined the term "fap".]]

* A now defunct neo-Nazi group in Germany went by the name of '''F'''reiheitliche Deutsche '''A'''rbeiter '''P'''artei. [[http://www.br.de/nachrichten/fap-1991-leipzig-100~_v-img__16__9__xl_-d31c35f8186ebeb80b0cd843a7c267a0e0c81647.jpg?version=f2467 Yes, without the "Deutsche" in their acronym.]]

* Wiki/Wikipedia [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-enhanced_nuclear_induction_spectroscopy mentions]] the totally real '''P'''roton-'''E'''nhanced '''N'''uclear '''I'''nduction '''S'''pectroscopy, which is a type of nuclear magnetic resonance technique.

* A prolific USENET troll claims to represent a church calling itself the '''F'''irst '''U'''niversal '''C'''hristian '''K'''ingdom which, according to a Google search, ''actually exists''. There's a phone number, whose operators must be tired of people calling to say "Hello, is that the FUCK?"

* Until the late 1990s/early 2000s, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan had a bus system called '''[=GRATA=]''' which stood for '''G'''rand '''R'''apids '''A'''rea '''T'''ransit '''A'''uthority. Sadly, rides weren't ''gratis'' on [=GRATA=] and they changed their name to "the Rapid" in the early '00s.

** It worked didn't it? "If it's stupid, but it works, it's not stupid."

* Superbly trolled with by by Democratic Party in June, 2017. Two weeks after UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump sent the viral tweet with the text "Despite the constant negative press '''covfefe'''"[[note]]he probably meant "coverage"[[/note]], Democratic Representative Mike Quigley filed legislation titled the '''C'''ommunications '''O'''ver '''V'''arious '''F'''eeds '''E'''lectronically '''f'''or '''E'''ngagement (COVFEFE) Act. The bill would amend the Presidential Records Act to cover social media, thus requiring tweets and other social media posts by the U.S. President to be preserved under law.

* The unfortunately named '''F'''lorida '''A'''ssociation of '''P'''ublic '''P'''rocurement '''O'''fficials, or [[ADateWithRosiePalms FAPPO]].

* The name of one Argentine political party, the '''F'''rente '''A'''rgentino '''P'''rogresista has certainly [[ADateWithRosiePalms not gone unnoticed in the internet]].

* Creator/{{Konami}} has the PASELI digital currency, which stands for ''Pa''y ''S''mart ''E''njoy ''Li''fe.

* The UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration originally referred to the 2003 Iraq War military operation as “'''O'''peration '''I'''raqi '''L'''iberation,” but after recognizing the UnfortunateImplications of [[PublicSecretMessage this name]] (that is, playing into the assumptions of many people that the war was in order to gain control of Iraqi oil reserves), changed the name to “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

* Averted in Charlotte, where the light rail system, '''LYNX''', isn't really an acronym so much as a homophone pun (as it "links" parts of the city together), though it does fit the theme established by its "parent", the '''C'''harlotte '''A'''rea '''T'''ransit '''S'''ystem.

* Nuremberg, Germany has RUBIN: '''R'''ealisierung einer automatisierten '''U-B'''ahn '''I'''n '''N'''ürnberg. (Realizing an automatised subway in Nuremberg)

* Michigan's capital city Lansing has '''CATA'''--'''C'''apital '''A'''rea '''T'''ransportation '''A'''uthority. Its logo is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cata_logo.png the silhouette of a big cat]].

* UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter's effort to encourage rationing of gasoline during the oil shortage of the 70s was called the Moral Equivalent of War, a phrase taken from William Jennings Bryant. Unfortunately, when made an acronym on buttons, it spells out ''MEOW''.

** Also its opposite, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_utilization_target_selection Nuclear Utilization Target Selection]], NUTS. Hence a common question among IR students: Are you MAD or NUTS?

** And for an odd case, everyone knows RPG stands for '''R'''ocket '''P'''ropelled '''G'''renade (except [[{{RPG}} when it doesn't]]). Except it doesn't. It actually stands for ''ruchnoy protivotankovy granatomyot'', Russian for handheld anti-tank grenade launcher.

*** Unfortunately subverted though with the '''A'''rmor-'''P'''iercing '''F'''in-'''S'''tabilized '''D'''iscarding '''S'''abot which is the primary anti tank munition for the US Military...so people just nicknamed it "The Silver Bullet".

** The Christian fish symbol is actually an example of this trope as well. In Greek, the phrase "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior", gives the acronym ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ikthyus), which means "Fish." It was originally used as [[SpySpeak a code name to help Christians avoid Roman persecution]], which means that FunWithAcronyms used to be SeriousBusiness!

* While EPCOT stands for the relatively boring "Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow" it carries another meaning for Disney employees: Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday.

** Residents of Anaheim, California like to use '''D'''isney '''I'''s '''S'''o '''N'''ot '''E'''ver '''Y'''ielding, to reference the stranglehold the company holds over local politics. Disney would like you to know that Orange County would be ''nothing'' without them! No acronmym there... [[{{Megacorp}} they]] just want you to know.

*** And also parodied (Was it Bill Engvall or Jeff Foxworthy? Think Foxworth): '''D'''runks '''A'''gainst '''M'''ad '''M'''others.

* The gene "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbtb7 Zbtb7]]" was formerly known as the "'''POK''' '''e'''rythroid '''m'''yeloid '''on'''togenic factor", which was often shortened to Franchise/{{Pokemon}}. Pokémon USA naturally threatened to sue, as they didn't want Pokémon to be associated with the gene that may be the trigger for ''cancer'', of all things.

* In a 2007 paper in Chemical Communications, a group of Chinese academics coined an extremely unfortunate acronym for copper ('''Cu''') '''n'''ano'''t'''ubes. The same paper also had bismuth nanotubes. Their journal article on the work managed to get published in an English-language journal with their nomenclature intact. This is possibly the only time a Chem. Comm. article has been cited by ''ComicBook/{{Viz}}''.

** On a local level, Erie County, New York introduced the '''P'''revention of '''E'''motional '''N'''eglect and '''C'''hild '''E'''ndangerment Act to ban the use of conversion therapy on minors, an obvious TakeThat to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who has voiced support for the practice.

* The '''M'''oro '''I'''slamic '''L'''iberation '''F'''ront in the Philippines probably elicits a few snickers among foreign policy wonks who have seen Film/AmericanPie...

* The USA Department of Justice gets on with acronym fun with their policing committees, '''C'''ommunity '''O'''riented '''P'''olicing '''S'''ervices, and '''P'''olice '''E'''xecutive '''R'''esearch '''F'''orum
* This trope is actually OlderThanFeudalism: Early Christians chose the "fish" symbol based on the initials of Jesus Christ's title (in Greek, the lingua franca of the day): '''I'''esous '''Ch'''ristos '''Th'''eou '''Y'''ios '''S'''oter (letters weren't one-to-one with Roman script). The saying "money is the root of all evil" came from the same source (as "greed") as a thinly veiled TakeThat against the Roman empire, in Latin: '''R'''adix '''O'''mnium '''M'''alorum '''A'''varitia.
* SAFE Archery, a company that specializes in archery with foam tipped arrows, for special events and the like. They were used by Disney for ''{{WesternAnimation/Brave}}'' themed archery activities, for example. The name stands for '''S'''tudents '''A'''nd '''F'''amlies '''E'''xperiencing Archery.

* The name of one argentinian political party, the '''F'''rente '''A'''rgentino '''P'''rogresista has certainly [[ADateWithRosiePalms not gone unnoticed in the internet]].

* According to former astronaut Michael Collins in his book ''Liftoff,'' NASA's first abort sensing system was named the Abort Sensing and Implementation System (ASIS) because the Air Force was "not happy about calling it ASS."

* "Jeb," the nickname for George W. Bush's brother '''J'''ohn '''E'''llis '''B'''ush.

** Rumor is that this was deliberate by it's author as reference to the film Public Enemies main character, though he's denied it.

** FORTRAN ('''FOR'''mula '''TRAN'''slation).

* The TV channel UKTV Gold was renamed G.O.L.D., which apparently stands for '''G'''o '''O'''n, '''L'''augh '''D'''aily.

* The '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} N]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}}ational]] '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} A]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} ssociation of]] '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} S]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} tock]] '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} C]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} ar]] '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} A]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} utomobile]] '''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} R]]'''[[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} acing]] deserves a mention.

* The '''N'''ational '''A'''ssociation of '''S'''tock '''C'''ar '''A'''utomobile '''R'''acing deserves a mention.

* The British Government's emergency committee, convened in cases of regional, national or international emergency and the doings of which are highly classified, is generally referred to in the press and by the public as COBRA. Most feel makes up for the fact that it actually stands for the thoroughly prosaic ''Cabinet Office Briefing Room A'', and it has previously been suggested that the words 'Cabinet Office' were added to the acronym to make it more, in the words of Wiki/TheOtherWiki, 'virile'. And possibly to prevent the acronym in question from spelling BRA.

* A tradition at the Georgia Institute of Technology in UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} is the beanie cap given to all freshmen, called the "rat cap". Traditionally, "RAT" is an acronym for '''R'''ecruit '''A'''t '''T'''ech. In the old days, freshmen were required to wear their rat cap at all times (unless Tech beats Georgia in football that year), lest they receive hazing from upperclassmen; however, due to anti-hazing laws, the tradition largely died out by the 1960s. Participation in the rat cap tradition is now completely voluntary, with the marching band still upholding the more light-hearted parts of the tradition, namely the way it is decorated.

* The massive event now known simply as UsefulNotes/{{Woodstock}} had its fair share of cancellations and concerns, with various groups unable to attend in part due to traffic or other issues. One group which really took the cake, though, was ''Music/IronButterfly'', who were stuck in [=LaGuardia=] Airport. They sent a missive via Western Union demanding to be helicoptered out to the event, whereupon they would perform and be flown back. John Morris, the production coordinator, took exception to this ever so slightly unreasonable demand, and collaborated with a terribly helpful WU operator to send the following reply:

* Missed opportunity for the Bureau of [[TheAlcoholic Alcohol]], [[MustHaveNicotine Tobacco]], [[HandCannon Firearms]] and [[StuffBlowingUp Explosives]] to be called [[AwesomeMcCoolName The Bureau of]] '''[[PoeticJustice FATE]]'''.

* The [[UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}} Singapore Civil Defence Force]] has the '''F'''ire & '''R'''escue '''O'''perations '''S'''upport '''T'''ender, also known as '''FROST'''. Its logo [[https://www.facebook.com/SCDFpage/photos/the-fire-and-rescue-operations-support-tender-frost-combines-the-function-of-2-s/10153427507420583/ even has a depiction of a snowflake in the place of the letter 'O' in 'FROST']]!

* The [[UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}} Singapore Civil Defence Force]] has the [[https://www.facebook.com/SCDFpage/photos/the-fire-and-rescue-operations-support-tender-frost-combines-the-function-of-2-s/10153427507420583/ '''F'''ire & '''R'''escue '''O'''perations '''S'''upport '''T'''ender]], also known as '''FROST'''. Its logo even has a snowflake in the place of the letter 'O' in its name.

* The [[UsefulNotes/Singapore Singapore Civil Defence Force]] has the [[https://www.facebook.com/SCDFpage/photos/the-fire-and-rescue-operations-support-tender-frost-combines-the-function-of-2-s/10153427507420583/ '''F'''ire & '''R'''escue '''O'''perations '''S'''upport '''T'''ender]], also known as '''FROST'''. Its logo even has a snowflake in the place of the letter 'O' in its name.

** Par for the course in Filipino politics, considering the rather self-aggrandizing tendencies of most of them. Case in point Cavite politician Luis "Jon-Jon" Ferrer, who came up with the initialism [[https://www.facebook.com/jonjonferrerofficial/videos/lets-join-forces-for-covidfree-gentri/2572423606401564/ '''L'''et's '''J'''oin '''F'''orces]] based on his name.

* Pursuit Intervention Technique(PIT): A pursuit Tactic employed by the police where the pursing car forces a fleeing car to turn sideways spinning them out of control and forcing them to stop. While only to be employed in certain circumstances and at certain speeds, it has been employed at high speed resulting in flipped over cars causing injury and sadly even [[https://atlantablackstar.com/2021/09/14/knowing-there-were-kids-in-there-12-year-old-killed-after-georgia-trooper-performed-pit-maneuver-while-chasing-driver-that-fled-traffic-stop/ death]]

* Among detractors of [[UsefulNotes/{{Bitcoin}} non-fungible tokens]], NFT stands for "'''N'''o '''F'''ucking '''T'''hanks".

* A disturbing example that overlaps with Political Correctness Gone Mad, in some circles a new term is being pushed for pedophiles:
** Minor
** Attracted
** Person