Recursive acronym

A recursive acronym (synonymous with metacronym,^[1] recursive initialism, and recursive backronym) is an acronym or initialism that refers to itself in the expression for which it stands. The term was first used in print in April 1986.^[2]

Computer-related examples

In computing, an early tradition in the hacker community (especially at MIT) was to choose acronyms and abbreviations that referred humorously to themselves or to other abbreviations. Perhaps the earliest example in this context, from about 1977 or 1978, is TINT ("TINT Is Not TECO"), an editor for MagicSix. This inspired the two MIT Lisp Machine editors called EINE ("EINE Is Not Emacs") and ZWEI ("ZWEI Was EINE Initially"). These were followed by Richard Stallman's GNU (GNU's Not Unix). Many others also include negatives, such as denials that the thing defined is or resembles something else (which the thing defined does in fact resemble or is even derived from), to indicate that, despite the similarities, it was distinct from the program it was based on.^[3]

An earlier example appears in a 1976 textbook on data structures, in which the pseudo-language SPARKS is used to define the algorithms discussed in the text. "SPARKS" is claimed to be a non-acronymic name, but "several cute ideas have been suggested" as expansions of the name. One of the suggestions is "Smart Programmers Are Required to Know SPARKS".^[4]

Notable examples

Noted examples include:

• ACME - Acme Company Makes Everything (also A Company that Makes Everything)
• AROS — AROS Research Operating System (originally Amiga Research Operating System)
• Allegro — Allegro Low LEvel Game ROutines (early versions for Atari ST were called "Atari Low LEvel Game ROutines")
• Bamf - BAMF Application Matching Framework
• CAVE — Cave Automatic Virtual Environment
• Cygnus — Cygnus, Your GNU Support
• EINE — EINE Is Not Emacs
• DIMS — DIMS Ingenius Musical Solutions
• GiNaC — GiNaC is Not a CAS (Computer Algebra System)
• GNE — GNE's Not an Encyclopedia
• GNU — GNU's Not Unix
• FIJI — FIJI Is Just ImageJ
• INX — INX's Not X (a GNU/Linux distribution with a text interface)
• JACK — JACK Audio Connection Kit
• JOE — Joe's Own Editor
• KGS — KGS Go Server
• LAME — LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder^[5]
• LiVES — LiVES is a Video Editing System
• MiNT — MiNT is Not TOS (later changed to "MiNT is Now TOS")
• MINT — MINT Is Not TRAC
• Mung — Mung Until No Good^[6]
• Nagios — Nagios Ain't Gonna Insist On Sainthood (which is a reference to the previous name of Nagios, namely Netsaint)
• NiL — NiL Isn't Liero
• Ninja-ide - Ninja-IDE Is Not Just Another IDE
• PHP — PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (originally "Personal Home Page")
• P.I.P.S. — P.I.P.S. Is POSIX on Symbian
• PINE — PINE Is Nearly Elm, originally; PINE now officially stands for "Pine Internet News and E-mail"^[7]
• PNG — PNG's Not GIF (officially "Portable Network Graphics")
• RPM — RPM Package Manager (originally "Red Hat Package Manager")
• Scaled — Scaled Composites: Advanced Link to Efficient Development
• SPARQL — SPARQL Protocol And RDF Query Language
• TiLP — TiLP is a Linking Program
• TIP — TIP isn't Pico (name for earliest versions of nano text editor)
• UIRA — UIRA Isn't a Recursive Acronym
• Wine — Wine Is Not an Emulator^[8]
• XBMC — XBMC Media Center (originally Xbox Media Center)
• XINU — Xinu Is Not Unix
• XNA — XNA's Not Acronymed
• YAML — YAML Ain't Markup Language (initially "Yet Another Markup Language")
• Zinf — Zinf Is Not Freeamp
• ZWEI — ZWEI Was EINE Initially

Mutually recursive or otherwise special

• The GNU Hurd project is named with a mutually recursive acronym: "Hurd" stands for "Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons", and "Hird" stands for "Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth."
• The GNUBrain project is another mutually recursive acronym: "Brain" stands for "Brian Relates Any Independent Node" and "Brian" stands for "BRain Implements A Network".
• RPM, PHP and YAML were originally conventional initialisms which were later redefined recursively. They are examples of, or may be referred to as, backronymization,^{[citation needed]} where the official meaning of an acronym or initialism is changed.
• Jini claims the distinction of being the first recursive anti-acronym^{[citation needed]}. 'Jini Is Not Initials'. It might, however, be more properly termed an anti-backronym because the term "Jini" never stood for anything in the first place. The more recent "XNA", on the other hand, was deliberately designed that way.
• Most recursive acronyms are recursive on the first letter, which is therefore an arbitrary choice, often selected for reasons of humour, ease of pronunciation, or consistency with an earlier acronym that used the same letters for different words, such as PHP: PHP Hypertext Preprocessor, which was originally "Personal home page". However YOPY, "Your own personal YOPY" is recursive on the last letter (hence the last letter had to be the same as the first).

Non-technical examples

Recursive acronyms are not limited to computing terminology. For example:

• TIARA — TIARA is a recursive acronym^[9] (or This Is A Recursive Acronym)
• GURGA - Group of Useless Recursive and Gurga Acronyms.^[10]

Some organizations have been named or renamed in this way:

• BWIA — BWIA West Indies Airways (formerly British West Indian Airways)
• GES — GES Exposition Services (formerly Greyhound Exposition Services)
• LINK — Link Interchange NetworK, the UK ATM switching organization.
• Saab — Saab Automobile Aktiebolaget, formerly part of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, also known as Saab.
• ADAP — ADAP Discount Auto Parts
• Heil — Heil Environmental Industries Limited, maker of garbage trucks
• KLuB — Klub Linux Bandung (Linux Club of Bandung city)
• VISA - VISA International Service Association

Fictional examples

• In Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, published 1979, Douglas Hofstadter uses the acronym GOD, 'GOD Over Djinn'. As a genie explains to Achilles, GOD stands for GOD Over Djinn, remarking that "GOD can never be fully expanded." In the German translation it is rendered as "ZEUS ewig über Schinn", meaning "Zeus eternally over Djinn".
• KOS-MOS — Kosmos Obey Strategical Multiple Operation Systems, from the video game series Xenosaga.
• A recursive initialism appeared in a Dilbert comic strip, in which Dilbert states that the TTP project refers to The TTP Project (this is also an infinitely-redundant case of RAS syndrome).
• In the TV show Twin Peaks, Laura Palmer figured that her nemesis, Bob, was an acronym for "Beware of Bob".
• In the Archie Comics series Sonic the Hedgehog, the digital son of Eggman is named A.D.A.M., which has two meanings, one of which is "A.D.A.M. Determines Anonymous' Movements".
• In an episode of M*A*S*H, Radar O'Reilly refers to A.W.O.L. as "A.W.O.L. without official leave".
• In the DC Comics series Atari Force, ATARI originally stood for "Atari Technology And Research Institute," though this was changed to "Advanced Technology And Research Institute" in later issues.
• In The Simpsons episode That 90's Show, Homer defines "GRUNGE" as Guitar Rock Utilizing Nihilist Grunge Energy.
• In The Simpsons episode The Food Wife, Ned defines "SPORTS" (which had just been given as the antecedent for the S in the acronym GAMES) as Strict Parental Oversight Rather Than Sports.
• A partial example from Look Around You exists. In the programme Maths is said to stand for Mathematical Anti-Telharsic Harfatum Septomin.
• In his 2011 book That Is All, John Hodgman suggests that the word antidisestablishmentarianism began as an acronym for "A National Trust In Defense of Institutional, Strongly Establish State Theology Against Barbaric Laicization (Including Secular Humanists Mocking English National Tradition) And Resisting Increasing Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism. Need I say More?".

Mnemonic Devices

A word that is formed by taking the initials of a phrase is only an acronym if the word is spelled that way for that reason. If the word exists first, and the phrase is simply a mnemonic device for remembering the word, then the word is not an acronym. An example is genealogy, the root word of genealogists. Although these are not acronyms, recursive or otherwise, they may appear to be recursive acronyms, because of mnemonic devices such as:

Genealogists Examine Needed Evidence At Lots Of Grave Yards^[11]

Genealogists Evidently Needing Endless Ancestors Look Obsessively in Grave Yards^[12]

References

1. ^ "UrbanDictionary.com - Metacronym". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=metacronym. Retrieved 2010-10-24. 
2. ^ "WordSpy - Recursive Acronym". http://www.wordspy.com/words/recursiveacronym.asp. Retrieved 2008-12-18. 
3. ^ The Free Software Movement and the Future of Freedom: The name "GNU", Richard Stallman, March 9th 2006
4. ^ Fundamentals Of Data Structures (Ellis Horowitz & Sartaj Sahni, Computer Science Press, 1976)
5. ^ "LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder". http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/LAME+Ain't+an+MP3+Encoder+(Mike+Cheng). Retrieved 2006-11-15. 
6. ^ "The Jargon File". http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/M/mung.html. Retrieved 2007-10-15. 
7. ^ "What Pine Really Stands For". http://www.island-resort.com/pine.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-06. 
8. ^ "FAQ - The Official Wine Wiki". http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#head-8b4fbbe473bd0d51d936bcf298f5b7f0e8d25f2e. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
9. ^ .EXE magazine, November 1996
10. ^ www.tensegridad.es, April 2011
11. ^ "Common Genealogy Mistakes - Don't Misspell the Word Genealogy as Geneology, Geneaology, Genology or Geniology". http://genealogy.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=genealogy&cdn=parenting&tm=3&gps=348_373_877_500&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.3.336.ip_&tt=29&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.oz.net/%7Emarkhow/writing/spelling.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
12. ^ "The Correct Spelling of the Word GENEALOGY". http://genealogy.about.com/od/basics/ss/mistakes_10.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 

• This article is based in part on the Jargon File, which is in the public domain.

See also

• RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome)
• Acronyms
• Backronyms
• Anti-acronym