There are words, and there are acronyms. We use them as words in everyday language and probably don’t know what they really mean or stand for. Here’s the list of the most used and most misunderstood.
1. TASER: Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle
Jack Cover is the inventor of the taser, but he named it for Tom Swift, the fictional character in a series of books about sci-fi inventions. One of those inventions was an electric rifle, the fictional precursor to the taser.
2. LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
Laser is so commonplace now that it has eclipsed its identity as an acronym and is now treated as a word.
3. RADAR: Radio Detection And Ranging
Like laser, we no longer think of radar as an acronym. It’s a word!
4. SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
While snorkel is a word derived from German, SCUBA actually stands for something.
5. ZIP code: Zone Improvement Plan
ZIP codes were developed by the U.S. Postal Service as a scheme to improve mail delivery codes.
6. Smart car: Swatch Mercedes Art
Wait…what? Smart cars were developed by Swatch and brought to market by Daimler Benz, so the acronym brand name of “Smart” was a compromise between the two companies.
7. CARE package: Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe
While we think of care packages as something moms send to kids at camp, they were originally packages sent to Americans’ loved ones in Europe during the horrors of World War I via the organization Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe.
8. NIMBY: Not In My Back Yard
It’s fine to build a nuclear power plant or garbage dump anywhere–as long as it’s not in my back yard.
9. AWOL: Absent Without Official Leave
This is another military term that has infiltrated popular language so it’s often said about friends and family who aren’t where they’re supposed to be — member of the military or not.
