Acronyms have a life of their own beyond the words they
stand for. They signify various meanings some of them which have nothing to do
with the current set of words they stand for. When a name is shortened by
taking the first letters of each word in the name, care should be taken that they
do not mean some thing else. I always thank my lucky stars that I was not
christened with a middle name beginning with the letter ‘U’.
The more short forms and acronyms are used the more they
ironically erase the memory of those they were meant to preserve. M.G. Road is seldom
identified with the father of the nation even though every city has one.
Acronyms also act as a gendered code – almost like an
idiolect – which is a unique linguistic pattern for users of a particular
language. ABCD can stand for the lofty ‘American Born Confused Desi’ or even
the Konkani version ‘Ago Bai Cheddi
Dista’
Queenie tells me of an overweight 8th standarder
in a fitness training class who was dreaming of ‘C.I.D.’ even when she was
huffing through the exercises. She asked the trainer if she knew what it stood
for. The trainer gave the accepted long form of ‘Criminal Investigation
Department.’ She later revealed sheepishly that it stood for ‘Chutney, Idli,
Dosa’!
Acronyms often undermine the accepted meanings of the words
they stand for. R.I.P. which is usually ‘Rest in Peace,’ is interpreted as
‘Rise If Possible.’
Many acronyms have interesting origins. We often use ‘posh’
to mean ‘pricey’ or ‘classy’. The word originally was an acronym which in the 1890’s
to1910’s stood for ‘Portside Outward Starboard Homeward.’ ‘Port’ stood for the
left side and ‘Starboard’ stood for the right side. These spaces on the deck of
steamships which traveled from India
to England
were shaded from the sun to and fro. As a result these passengers could
preserve their white skin colour – at a price. The acronym was stamped on the
tickets of these ‘posh’ passengers. The word became part of the language to
mean better accommodation. What a story!
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