Definition of backronym

backronym

noun

a word that has come to be an acronym (or is viewed by some as an acronym) when it was not originally an acronym.

Slang examples include "SHIT" meaning "ship high in transit", "PHAT" meaning "pretty hot and tempting", etc.

"Backronym" is itself an acronym, being "back" + "acronym".
- See more words with the same meaning: acronyms (list of).
- See more words with the same meaning: computer slang.
Last edited on Feb 11 2013. Submitted by WalterGR (via TheJargonFile) on Aug 14 2009.

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Related words

Slang terms with the same meaning

Other terms relating to 'acronyms (list of)':
GFY	Definitions include: acronym for "go fuck yourself".
TTMB	Definitions include: acronym for "talk to me, babe."
FML	Definitions include: acronym for "fuck my life."
NIMBY	Definitions include: acronym for "not in my backyard."
SGTM	Definitions include: acronym for "sounds good to me".
IOU	Definitions include: a promise to pay, written acknowledgement of a debt.
pls	Definitions include: "please".
MF	Definitions include: acronym for mother fucker.
KO	Definitions include: acronym for "knock out."
TAY	Definitions include: acronym for "talk amongst yourselves".
bbygrl	Definitions include: "babygirl", i.e. girlfriend.
GTK	Definitions include: acronym for "good to know".
buff	Definitions include: muscular.
h8t	Definitions include: "hate".
ROTFL	Definitions include: acronym for "rolling on the floor laughing".
(show 702 more)
Other terms relating to 'computer slang':
DDG	Definitions include: acronym for "drop dead gorgeous".
meme	Definitions include: something that spreads through the internet in the same way that a virus spreads between organisms.
asf	Definitions include: acronym for "as fuck".
1432	Definitions include: "I love you too".
IIRC	Definitions include: acronym for "if I recall correctly."
postarrhea	Definitions include: metaphorical disease that causes a person to post too many things to some location on the web.
finger	Definitions include: to look up someone on the internet.
OMG	Definitions include: acronym for "Oh my God", a general-purpose exclamation.
Billy Mays Mode	Definitions include: a "mode" activated by typing in all capital letters.
LMK	Definitions include: acronym for "let me know".
killer app	Definitions include: a computer program that single-handedly or near single-handedly makes a computing platform popular.
bogometer	Definitions include: a metaphorical device that people possess (a la gaydar) that measures how bogus something is.
pwd	Definitions include: "password."
tl;wrl	Definitions include: acronym for "too long; will read later".
ur	Definitions include: "your".
(show 577 more)

Slang terms with the same root words

Other terms relating to 'acronym':
TLA	Definitions include: acronym for "three-letter acronym".
Other terms relating to 'back':
back	Definitions include: large buttocks.
back 40	Definitions include: wild or rough terrain adjacent to a developed area.
*back sswards**	Definitions include: done or performed incorrectly, strangely, opposite from the correct way, or clumsily; "backwards".
back at the ranch	Definitions include: exclamation useful when the conversation is going off tangent.
back at you	Definitions include: and the same to you.
back door	Definitions include: the anus.
back door man	Definitions include: the man who a cheating spouse sees on the side.
back-door trots, the	Definitions include: horrendous diarrhea.
back end	Definitions include: the anus.
back forty	Definitions include: a place that is far away.
back in the day	Definitions include: at some time before the present.
back in the saddle	Definitions include: having resumed an activity that one had previously stopped performing.
back off	Definitions include: large buttocks.
back one out	Definitions include: to defecate; "poop".
back on (one's) feet	Definitions include: doing better after an unfavorable event.
(show 67 more hide.)