Backronym

What is backronym?
The term 'backronym' is an artificial word for the words backwards and acronym. Sacronies happen when people assign single word structures to an acronym, not the other way around. For this reason, the backronym is often referred to as the 'reverse acronym'.

Backronyms can be stamped in different ways. Many definitions online suggest that backronyms are usually based on either humor or 'folk etymology'. A typical example of a backronym is when NASA named an ISS treadmill COLBERT (Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Treadmill) after Stephen Colbert. In other cases, people might create a backronym to criticize the functionality of something. For a theoretical example, workers who produce an engine or machine part under the 'DWA' brand could say that the letters stand for 'does not work at all'.