{"id":1184,"date":"2015-11-10T14:22:49","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/backronym\/"},"modified":"2017-01-27T11:48:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T11:48:54","slug":"backronym","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym","title":{"rendered":"Backronym"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_backronym_mean\">What Does Backronym Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p> The term \u201cbackronym\u201d is a portmanteau of the words backward and acronym. Bacronyms happen when people ascribe individual word structures to an acronym, rather than the other way around. For this reason, the backronym is often called a \u201creverse acronym.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_backronym\">Techopedia Explains Backronym<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Backronyms can be minted in a number of ways. Many online definitions suggest that backronyms are usually based on either humor or \u201cfolk etymology.\u201d One common example of a backronym is when NASA named an ISS treadmill the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) after Stephen Colbert. In other instances, people might create a backronym to criticize the functionality of something. For a theoretical example, workers producing an engine or machine part under the brand \u201cDWA\u201d might say the letters stand for \u201cDoesn\u2019t Work At All.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Backronym Mean? The term \u201cbackronym\u201d is a portmanteau of the words backward and acronym. Bacronyms happen when people ascribe individual word structures to an acronym, rather than the other way around. For this reason, the backronym is often called a \u201creverse acronym.\u201d Techopedia Explains Backronym Backronyms can be minted in a number of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[238],"class_list":["post-1184","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-buzzwords-and-jargon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is a Backronym? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Backronym and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backronym\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Backronym and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-27T11:48:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Backronym\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-10T14:22:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-27T11:48:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym\"},\"wordCount\":136,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/382\/backronym\",\"name\":\"What is a Backronym? 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