Editing Backronym (section)

===As false etymologies===
{{further|List of common false etymologies of English words#Acronyms}}
Sometimes a backronym is reputed to have been used in the formation of the original word, and amounts to a false etymology or an [[urban legend]]. Acronyms were rare in the English language before the 1930s, and most etymologies of common words or phrases that suggest origin from an acronym are false.<ref name=F-word>{{Cite book |last1=Sheidlower |first1=Jesse |author-link1=Jesse Sheidlower |title=[[The F-Word (book)|The F-Word]] |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press US |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-539311-8}}</ref>

Examples include [[wikt:posh|''posh'']]{{anchor|POSH}}, an adjective describing stylish items or members of the upper class. A popular story derives the word as an acronym from "port out, starboard home", referring to 19th-century first-class cabins on [[ocean liners]], which were shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east (e.g. from Britain to [[British India|India]]) and homeward voyages west.<ref name="posh">
{{cite book|title=Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths|publisher=Penguin |last=Quinion|first=Michael|isbn=0-14-101223-4|year=2005}}; published in the US as
{{cite book|title=Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds|last=Quinion|first=Michael|year=2006|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=0-06-085153-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ballyhoobuckaroo0000quin_z4e2}}</ref> The word's actual etymology is unknown, but more likely related to [[Romani language|Romani]] {{lang|rom|påš xåra}} ('half-penny') or to [[Urdu]] (borrowed from [[Persian language|Persian]]) {{lang|ur-Latn|safed-pōśh}} ('white robes'), a term for wealthy people.<ref>{{cite dictionary |year=2009 |title =posh, ''adj.'' and ''n.'' |dictionary=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}</ref>

Another example is the word [[wikt:chav|''chav'']]{{anchor|CHAV}}, which is a derogatory term for a working-class youth. This word is probably of Romani origin<ref>{{cite dictionary |year=2023 |title =chav |dictionary=Wiktionary |publisher=The Wikimedia Foundation}}</ref> but commonly believed to be a backronym of "council-housed and violent".<ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Joe |title=Everything you ever wanted to know about the word 'chav' |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/accessibility/transcripts/dr-joe-bennett-chav.aspx |work=Ideas Lab Predictor Podcast, University of Birmingham |date=30 April 2012 |access-date=2023-10-13 |archive-date=2023-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929171150/https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/accessibility/transcripts/dr-joe-bennett-chav.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Similarly, the distress signal [[SOS]] is often believed to be an abbreviation for "save our ship" or "save our souls" but was chosen because it has a simple and unmistakable [[Morse code]] representation{{snd}} three dots, three dashes, and three dots, sent without any pauses between characters.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rohrer |first=Finlo |title=Save our SOS |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7444184.stm |work=BBC News Magazine |date=13 June 2008 |access-date=2012-07-10 |archive-date=2012-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202172820/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7444184.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

More recent examples include the brand name [[Adidas]], named after company founder [[Adolf Dassler|Adolf "Adi" Dassler]] but falsely believed to be an acronym for "all day I dream about sport".<ref name="adidas book">{{cite book |last1=Brunner |first1=Conrad |title=All Day I Dream About Sport: The Story of the Adidas Brand |date=2004 |publisher=Cyan |location=London |isbn=1-904879-12-8 |series=Great Brand Stories}}</ref>{{pages?|date=November 2023}} 

The word ''[[Wiki]]'' is said to stand for "what I know is",<ref name="economist-wiki">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6794228|title=The wiki principle|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2006-11-15|date=2006-04-20| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061007095842/http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6794228| archive-date= 7 October 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> but in fact is derived from the [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] phrase ''wiki-wiki'' meaning 'fast'.<ref name="dict-ref-wiki">{{cite dictionary |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiki|title=wiki |dictionary=Dictionary.com|access-date=2006-11-15| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061206015347/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wiki| archive-date= 6 December 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> 

[[Yahoo!]], sometimes claimed to mean "yet another hierarchical officious oracle", in fact was chosen because Yahoo's founders liked the word's meaning of "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth" (taken from [[Jonathan Swift]]'s book ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'').<ref name="Yahoo-Info">{{cite web |title=The History of Yahoo! - How It All Started... |url=http://docs.yahoo.com/info/misc/history.html |date=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011129061649/http://docs.yahoo.com/info/misc/history.html |archive-date=29 November 2001 |work=Yahoo |access-date=8 November 2015}}</ref> The distress call "[[pan-pan]]" is commonly stated to mean "possible assistance needed", whereas it is in fact derived from the French word ''panne'', meaning 'breakdown'.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Eli |date=18 January 2023 |title=Qantas flight QF144 lands safely at Sydney Airport after midair mayday call |work=news.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/fears-for-flight-after-mayday-called-for-qantas-flight-auckland-to-sydney/news-story/82bab4c70582ba4f7e7af0a8058fcbc2 |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118061647/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/fears-for-flight-after-mayday-called-for-qantas-flight-auckland-to-sydney/news-story/82bab4c70582ba4f7e7af0a8058fcbc2 |url-status=live }}</ref>