David K. Israel
7 False Acronyms
by David K. Israel - November 16, 2009 - 9:07 AM

Sure, everyone knows that SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. And right, most of us know that AWOL stands for Absent Without Leave. But what about all those supposed acronyms, like Golf and Posh, that aren’t really acronyms at all. Here are seven false ones you need to know… at least to be able to impress friends at parties.

1. Posh

Supposed Meaning: Port out starboard home

Picture 2As the old legend goes, back when travel between India and Britain was done by ship via the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, those in the first class cabins, or the “posh” passengers, usually sat “port out, starboard home” to be shaded from the sun. These tickets, which were stamped POSH, were prized among wealthy English travelers and the name became synonymous with fashion and luxury. However, the company has repeatedly denied this practice and the origin of posh is uncertain. But thanks to popular culture, like the 1968 musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with its “port out starboard home” lyrics in the song “Posh,” the false acronym will probably never completely die.

2. Golf

Supposed Meaning: Gentleman only, ladies forbidden

golfMany people think that golf means “Gentleman only, ladies forbidden.” And maybe because it was a sport dominated by certain types of men for so long, the myth stuck. But there’s no truth to this one. As for the real origin of the word golf, one theory says it’s derived from the Dutch word kolf, which means a stick or club, as in the kind Tiger Woods uses to hit a ball 300 yards onto the green. And the Scotts have a similar-sounding word, goul, which means, “to strike or cut off.”

While we don’t know the origin of the word, we do know that the first documented mention of the word was in Edinburgh in 1457, when King James II banned ‘ye golf’, in an attempt to encourage archery practice. Word.

3. Adidas


Supposed Meaning: All Day I Dream About Sports and/or Sex


AdidasLogoThere are two popular false acronyms behind Adidas, the German-based sports apparel company. The first, and most commonly used is “All Day I Dream About Sports.” Although it would seem to make sense, the popular phrase was coined years after the company was founded. The second was popularized in a 1997 Korn song titled “A.D.I.D.A.S.” and is said to mean “All Day I Dream About Sex.” As our readers point out in the comments below, this backronym has been around since the early 80s, at least. Of course, the word Adidas was never an acronym and is actually a portmanteau of the company’s founder’s name, Adolph “Adi” Dassler. When you blend Adi with the first three letters of his last name, you get Adidas.

4. KISS (the rock group)

Supposed Meaning: Knights in Satan’s Service

gene-simmons-photoAlthough they may look like “Knights in Satan’s Service”, the make-up clad members of KISS are not the fire-breathing devil worshipers as this false acronym may suggest. According to Gene Simmons, the rumor began after he half-jokingly told an interviewer that he sometimes wondered what human flesh tasted like. Almost immediately after, the band became rock music’s foremost Satanists. In some ways, the band both embraced and perpetuated the rumor by refusing to answer whether or not they worshipped the devil. Years later when Simmons was asked why he chose the name for the band, he simply replied, “We just liked it.”

Fun Fact: Although he’s been known to spit blood on stage, Gene Simmons studied theology at Sullivan Community College in New York.

5. RSVP

Supposed Meaning: Respond to Sender Via Post

We’ve all received wedding invitations where the host has asked us to R.S.V.P. by a certain date, and in American culture it’s rude not to “respond to sender via post.” Who knows what the etiquette is in France, where the phrase originates. What’s certain is that the actual French translation of the phrase is merely “please respond,” or, in French, repondez s’il vous plait.

6. Cop


Supposed Meaning: Constable on Patrol

However, cop is neither an acronym for “constable on patrol” nor a slang term to describe the copper buttons on the uniforms of 18th century New York City police officers. The word cop was initially used in the 1840s as a verb meaning “to arrest.” Slowly, the word transformed from ‘to arrest into police custody’ to describe the person doing the arresting. Soon after, police officers started being called “coppers.”

7. Bing

Supposed Meaning: But It’s Not Google

Picture 2When I first heard about Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, I thought maybe it had something to do with the Bada Bing! from the Sopranos. So I started poking around for the origin of the word. What I first discovered was a false acronym. Yes, some in the tech world are saying that Bing stands for “But It’s Not Google.” However, the folks over at the world’s largest software company say that Bing is meant to invoke “the sound of found”, as in “Bingo! I got it!” This is not the first time Bill Gates and company attempted to release a search engine to compete with Google. Previous efforts with MSN Search (bong) and Live Search (bang) both proved unsuccessful. I dunno, what do you all think of Bing?

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Comments (57)

  1. These kinds of post hoc terms are commonly known as “backronyms.”

    posted by James Gibson on 11-16-2009 at 9:45 am

  2. “All Day I Dream About Sex” did NOT originate with Korn.

    I can personally attest to that backronym being used in southern Indiana as far back as 1986 or ’87, which means it probably dates back to the ’70s.

    I just hate to see terrible nu-metal bands get credit for inventing something they had nothing to do with. It would be like say “Limp Bizkit invented rap metal” and not giving props to Anthrax.

    Of course, the difference there is that ‘Thrax didn’t suck…

    posted by clint on 11-16-2009 at 10:11 am

  3. Don’t forget the band W.A.S.P.

    It was always used with the periods to look like it stood for something, and when asked, the band would say We Are Sexually Perverted.

    posted by Wayne on 11-16-2009 at 10:15 am

  4. I find those Bing commercials clever, but am like: all this advertising for a search engine? How 1999. To put this in ketchup terms: I think Bing will have to settle for being the Huntz to Google’s Heinz.

    posted by Lynnie on 11-16-2009 at 10:19 am

  5. I’ve heard the false acronym for “News” being “North, East, West, South” as in you’ll get your info from all around. I even heard it on Jimmy Fallon’s show about two weeks ago. I know it’s sad that I watched Jimmy Fallon but at least I knew it wasn’t true.

    posted by Nick on 11-16-2009 at 10:22 am

  6. Agree with Clint. I first heard the comment when I wore my adidas t-shirt to the local pool and a friend walked up and said “All day I dream about sex” as he poked each letter. That was summer 1980.

    posted by Rob f on 11-16-2009 at 10:50 am

  7. I agree with Clint.
    I also distinctly remember hearing the ADIDAS acronym about sex as a kid in the mid to late 80′s & I live in Pennsylvania.

    posted by Brian on 11-16-2009 at 10:57 am

  8. Recursive acronyms make me giggle:

    GNU: Gnu’s Not Unix!
    Bing: Bing.. It’s Not Google!

    The GNU one is actually real, too.

    posted by Lauren on 11-16-2009 at 11:03 am

  9. I heard the ADIDAS sex thing in the 80′s in rural Texas. Please don’t give Korn credit!

    posted by Stacy on 11-16-2009 at 11:07 am

  10. As someone who use to mark up his adidas school folders with “All Day Long I Dream Of Sex” I feel the need to point out that they didn’t give KORN credit, they just said it was was popularized in a 1997 Korn song titled “A.D.I.D.A.S.”

    posted by Troy Lee Wells on 11-16-2009 at 11:17 am

  11. I knew the RSVP was for the french term…I had actually never heard of the other version for the acronym. Also with KISS…the picked the name, because they couldn’t use F***. It was the next best thing, I suppose.

    posted by Tiffany on 11-16-2009 at 11:23 am

  12. Bing sucks. It just sucks. Period.

    posted by Elise Rivera on 11-16-2009 at 11:30 am

  13. Someone once told me that RSVP stood for “ReSpond Very Promptly.” Which would have made sense, except for the “S”.

    posted by Ryan on 11-16-2009 at 11:45 am

  14. Is bing the mastermind behind those stupid green links in the middle of articles? If so, I hate them so much. It’s so annoying to drag the mouse down the middle of the article and to have pop ups come up for “kid” and “green”. Really? I need links for this?

    but yeah, I prefer Google. I love the new ‘filler’ they’re doing where you start to type a phrase and it fills it in for you. Love it.

    posted by OkieMelissa on 11-16-2009 at 11:48 am

  15. Hah, in middle school challenge bowl I wrote that RSVP stood for “responde-vou si vou plei”. (Despite the atrocious spelling, they gave it to me because I could pronounce it right.)

    [Recaptcha: publishing's weiner.]

    posted by Aemi on 11-16-2009 at 12:08 pm

  16. The POSH entry is interesting, because I was on a Disney cruise, where one of the cast members actually told us that was the meaning.

    posted by FlowerPower on 11-16-2009 at 12:26 pm

  17. Amen to the extremely annoying pop ups courtesy of Bing. It certainly is not Google as it continues the Micro Soft policy of being in your face I know what you need better than you do attitude. I always thought that RSVP stood for “Remember, Send Vedding Present.”

    ReCapthca: for gogol

    posted by Hawaiian on 11-16-2009 at 12:33 pm

  18. I always tell people that saying “Please RSVP” is redundant. It’s like saying “Please respond please.” (Kind of like “PIN Number.”) But because most people don’t know what the SVP stands for, it sounds rude to NOT say please.

    posted by Stephanie on 11-16-2009 at 12:42 pm

  19. I noticed something interesting the other day that may hamper Bing becoming as big as Google. When you have used Google to search for something, you say you “Googled it”. However, if you used Bing, have you “Binged it”? When written, it looks like you went on an information binge.

    posted by Anthony on 11-16-2009 at 12:46 pm

  20. You forgot the granddaddy of all false acronyms: Fornication Under Consent of the King.

    posted by Pheo on 11-16-2009 at 12:52 pm

  21. @Ryan – growing up I was told that RSVP stood for Respond So Very Promptly-which would account for the S. Never heard the other.

    posted by Fran on 11-16-2009 at 1:07 pm

  22. @Pheo, I thought it was For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

    posted by Fran on 11-16-2009 at 1:09 pm

  23. You know, you say golf isn’t Gentlemen only, ladies forbidden, but Augusta National begs to differ.

    posted by Joel on 11-16-2009 at 1:18 pm

  24. I think it’s funny how everyone thinks that S.O.S. means “Save Our Ship/Souls,” when in reality, the letters are easy to hear when using a telegraph: …/- – -/… and really have no actual meaning. However, much like Posh, I think this one is probably also here to stay.

    posted by Marty on 11-16-2009 at 2:13 pm

  25. I like the backronym: TIPS – To Insure Proper Service (or Prompt, etc.). Maybe it doesn’t make perfect sense but it’s close enough.

    Like Tiffany, I also only knew the French term for RSVP and hadn’t heard the other.

    posted by Nerak on 11-16-2009 at 2:34 pm

  26. What about Budweiser?
    “Because you(u)deserve what every individual should enjoy regularly”

    posted by Kristin on 11-16-2009 at 2:55 pm

  27. I had a friend who insisted that KISS got their name because opening their show with power chords and a shouted “F**K” would have been a little too much…

    posted by lleachie on 11-16-2009 at 3:11 pm

  28. Are you sure cop (noun) came before copper? I don’t actually know this, but it would seem to make more sense if it went ‘cop’ (verb), then ‘copper’ (noun: ‘one who cops’), then ‘cop’ (noun: short for ‘copper’).

    posted by Gwan on 11-16-2009 at 3:16 pm

  29. I know this is something of a tangent, but it strikes me as a very flossy bit of trivia: Adi Dassler and his brother Rudolf owned a shoe company together that split in 1948. Adi’s company, we know, became Adidas, but Rudolf wasn’t exactly left to history’s dustbin. The company he founded is known today as Puma.

    posted by Adam on 11-16-2009 at 3:48 pm

  30. In an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, Granny told Jed that R.S.V.P. meant Roast Skunk Very Possible.

    posted by Doflitchit on 11-16-2009 at 4:05 pm

  31. Bing always makes me think of Chandler Bing from Friends. I recall an early episode where Chandler tells a tale about how someone was mocking him for his last name, over emphasizing the B in “Bing!” and the deliver and annoyance of Matthew Perry was perfect.

    Bing!!

    I can’t believe nobody mentioned this yet.

    posted by Jonny on 11-16-2009 at 4:40 pm

  32. It didn’t say “popularized” by Korn this morning! I’d swear it said “originated!” They revised it out from under me!

    I also heard W.A.S.P. meant “We Are Satan’s People” once back in the ’80s. Some religious group had that theory, I think.

    I guess “Crappy Pop Metal That’s Nowhere Near As Menacing As The Visual Imagery It’s Couched In” made a lousy band name (CPMTNNAMATVIICI) so they went with “W.A.S.P.”

    posted by clint on 11-16-2009 at 4:55 pm

  33. Must jump it with anti-bing too – worst.popups.ever. Way to go Microsoft – every time I think you’ve p!$$ed me off for the last time, you come back with something even more obnoxious.

    Recaptcha: Refusal nuttier

    posted by Jon on 11-16-2009 at 5:28 pm

  34. @Pheo–

    That’s what I’d always heard too, as part of Henry VIII’s separation of the Church of England from Rome. (People had to go along with it to have their marriages legally recognized.)

    Another favorite: Ship High In Transit.

    posted by cc on 11-16-2009 at 5:30 pm

  35. Ah. I see you have the machine that goes “Bing!”

    posted by Doc on 11-16-2009 at 6:13 pm

  36. I always bring this up when someone says RSVP or “si’l vous plait”

    Literally translated it means “respond, if it pleases you”

    Repondez = Respond
    S’il = if it
    vous = you
    plait = congugation of “to please” = Respond if it pleases you.

    Of course this is the literal translation. We all know that S’il vous plait means simply “please” in today’s american vernacular. it’s just fun to think about :)

    posted by xanderjones on 11-16-2009 at 6:25 pm

  37. P.S> so next time someone says “s’il vous plait” you can say, “no it does NOT please me!”

    lol

    posted by xanderjones on 11-16-2009 at 6:27 pm

  38. Terry Pratchett’s Captain Carrot also gave two more explanations for “copper”: the copper badges they wore, and a form of the latin “Capo, capere”. But your explanation sounds more plausible for the real world.

    posted by Hannah on 11-16-2009 at 7:38 pm

  39. One simple reason that the backronym “gentlemen only, ladies forbidden” is clearly bad folk etymology is that at the time golf originated, people knew that the counterpart to “gentleman” was “gentlewoman”, and the counterpart to “lady” was “lord”; they wouldn’t have said it that way. Among the various early spellings were “goff” and “gauff”.

    Another problem with backronyms is that acronyms in general were rare prior to the 20th century and almost nonexistent prior to the 19th century. Therefore, the chance that any given word would have originated with one, *especially* those earthy four-letter words pertaining to some of the most basic functions of life, is vanishingly small.

    A little familiarity with other languages, especially German, comes in handy here. English is at its root a Germanic language. After the Norman Conquest, words in Norman-French became prestigious synonyms for the common words of the conquered, such as those described by Gurth in his little speech on etymology in Ivanhoe.

    For example, the origin of, um, “ship high in transit” is obvious if you think about it. At some point after German and Anglo-Saxon diverged from a common root, many words that contained a ‘t’ sound shifted to an ‘s’ sound instead. For example, the German word for “water” is “wasser”, “shoot” is “schiess”, which is pronounced more like “shoot” than it looks, “foot” is “fuss”, and if you switch the “ie” for “ei”, you’ll have the German equivalent of the word that doesn’t mean “ship high in transit.”

    The backronyms like “for unlawful carnal knowledge” are equally disproven when you look at words like the Dutch “fokken” and its various Germanic relatives. It may be a euphemism itself, by the way, because another meaning of many of its relatives is “to strike”. In other words, “I’d hit that” is older than English!

    posted by WW on 11-16-2009 at 8:44 pm

  40. Sam Houston Institute of Technology &
    Florida University of Cultural Knowledge
    come to mind…

    posted by Doflitchit on 11-16-2009 at 8:56 pm

  41. I always thought it was Fornucation Under Consent of the King? Always seemed it bit intrusive though.

    posted by Finndego on 11-17-2009 at 5:11 am

  42. I am Dutch, and (as far as I know) ‘kolf’ only means ‘cob’ (as in ‘corncob’)

    posted by Femke on 11-17-2009 at 7:57 am

  43. Back in the late 70′s/early 80′s elementary school/junior high we were amusing ourselves saying that ADIDAS stood for “All Day I Dream About Sex”. We also said that ADIDAS backwards meant “Sex All Day in Dad’s Apartment”. This was in Northern Ontario.
    Another False Acronym in the vein of KISS is AC/DC. Some people have it meaning “Anti-Christ Devil’s Child”, but it’s just good old “alternating current/direct current” meaning power. Apparently one or both of the Young brothers were inspired when they saw it on the back of a sewing machine.

    posted by Kie on 11-17-2009 at 8:41 am

  44. I was always told that AWOL was regarded as the very first acronym, and was created around the time of the First World War. Any acronym before that is pure etymythology.

    posted by Tyrone on 11-17-2009 at 9:25 am

  45. Just to be pedantic, RSVP is not an acronym. It is an initialism. And acronym must be pronouncable, like a word.

    And I remember the Adidas thing from the 70s.

    posted by rdhd on 11-17-2009 at 11:49 am

  46. See I was told in school that cop was short for Coppers and they were called that because the police badges use to be made out copper.

    posted by Lily on 11-17-2009 at 12:08 pm

  47. finndego: “I always thought it was Fornucation Under Consent of the King?”

    “I always thought” is not valid evidence. If you want to convince me that I’m wrong, you’re going to have to produce some primary source of the actual law, explain away the cognates in other Germanic languages, and give me a good reason why that phrase, and only that phrase, uses “under consent” instead of the normal “by consent” or “with consent”.

    Until you do, I’m gonna go with the linguists’ explanation, not the etymythological one.

    posted by WW on 11-17-2009 at 12:12 pm

  48. @rdhd

    Yes, you are correct. An acronym does have to be pronounced as a word. Maybe Americans pronounce it ‘risverp’? That’s why it’s on this list. Who knows?

    posted by Tyrone on 11-17-2009 at 4:39 pm

  49. I think there’s minimal hope of saving the correct definition of acronym at this point. For some reason, nobody wants to say “initialism”, even for things like RSVP that are initialisms but not acronyms. Heck, Firefox’s spelling checker even resents me typing it! We have to choose our battles; personally, I’m fighting to defend the proper use of the apostrophe.

    posted by WW on 11-17-2009 at 5:55 pm

  50. i always heard the the band GWAR stood for God What an Awful Racket.

    posted by dan on 11-18-2009 at 3:44 pm

  51. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is also a myth (according to Bill Bryson anyway)

    posted by Ian on 11-22-2009 at 4:46 am

  52. Bing is actually pretty cool, with their Image Searches.

    posted by Alexis Rae on 11-22-2009 at 4:55 pm

  53. i caught the RSVP too— they should have replaced it with the controversial one everyone wants to know about.. so heres an explanation that i Binged.

    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-f-word.htm

    posted by Dylan on 11-22-2009 at 6:41 pm

  54. Actually, the game is called GOLF because all the other 4 letter words were taken.

    posted by HackenWhack on 11-22-2009 at 10:10 pm

  55. Bing is more annoying than helpful. Its like a pop-up, not a search engine. I hate their guts for making it. I generally dis-approve of microsoft products, with the exception of Windows 98, twas a good year. Google owns the search engine market, face it jerks.

    posted by Justine on 12-12-2009 at 11:36 pm

  56. iPhone – i Paid hundreds of new expenses… Bad acronym…

    posted by SpitStorm on 12-18-2009 at 9:18 am

  57. I never knew the wrong meaning RSVP, just the right one.

    posted by kelly on 1-8-2010 at 8:58 pm

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