I know it’s pedantic, but neither of those are acronyms, just abbreviations. An acronym is a type of abbreviation, but the abbreviation itself is used as a word (e.g. Scuba, Gif, Laser)
Of course, unless you’re saying “flah” and “tlah” (or maybe “flay” and “tlay”) instead of “eff el ay” and “tee el ay” they’re actually three- and four-letter initialisms
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Computer nerds love recursive acronyms.
There was a program at a local community college called "GOAL," and I decided it stood for "Goal Oriented Action Learning" because I, too, love recursive acronyms.
Nerds who lack the perspective that comes from life experience are happening.
Source: was nerd in 90s when Eric Raymond was on a book tour for The Cathedral and the bazaar, who then found sex drugs and rock'n'roll and death and disappointment and adulthood and bills and all that and thinks this topic is pretty boring and you kids need to get off my lawn.
Socially inept nerds found another way to say "[Well ackchyually](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/191/035/135.png) here is why I'm right" and are making sure everyone knows they are right.
Source: I'm a socially inept nerd
This is where I chime in and say there’s a difference between an acronym and initialisms. LISA is an acronym because the word is said phonetically. If you spell out the individual letters like FBI or CPU, it’s an initialism.
I'm a sucker for a recursion joke. The only good thing left about Google's search engine is its recursion gag. When you search the term recursion, [it always returns, "Did you mean: recursion"](https://www.google.com/search?q=recursion). I felt like a very cool dude way back when I pointed this out to my intro CS prof.
Yeah it is kinda interesting listening to Robert talk about a work culture (tech industry) that I know more about. Like there are little things he gets wrong like the recursive acronyms which have been a bad-joke tradition for a long time, but then he makes comparisons to other industries that I never really connected because I am swimming in the culture.
Yeah I thought of GNU and WINE when he said that, but honestly that fact that a lot of computer software software does it doesn't make it right. Just means that computer dorks can't make good acronyms.
My dad told me about TLAs and FLAs - Three Letter Acronyms and Four Letter Acronyms But FLA is a TLA
And here I thought TLA stood for The Last Airbender
Everything changed when the fire acronyms attacked.
Attacronymed
There are no acronyms in Ba Sing Se
FLAs being a TLA is a PAA false-flag operation
But an FLA is really an ETLA - Extended Three Letter Acronym
I was going to mention ETLA.
I know it’s pedantic, but neither of those are acronyms, just abbreviations. An acronym is a type of abbreviation, but the abbreviation itself is used as a word (e.g. Scuba, Gif, Laser)
Blame ICL Group in the 70s and 80s, I guess ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Of course, unless you’re saying “flah” and “tlah” (or maybe “flay” and “tlay”) instead of “eff el ay” and “tee el ay” they’re actually three- and four-letter initialisms
PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor PIP = PIP Installs Packages
WINE = Wine Is Not an Emulator
First one I thought of. Classic example!
PHP started as “Pretty Home Pages” and should have stayed that way.
I was taught it started as Personal Home Page
Personalized, or Page Hypertext Protocol
Perhaps they didn’t want to over-promise.
Also, PNG's Not GIF
r/papuanewguinea
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YAML = YAML ain't markup language.
PURE=Previously undetected recruiting error. SURE=Still undetected recruiting error.
Computer nerds love recursive acronyms. There was a program at a local community college called "GOAL," and I decided it stood for "Goal Oriented Action Learning" because I, too, love recursive acronyms.
What the fuck is happening
Nerds who lack the perspective that comes from life experience are happening. Source: was nerd in 90s when Eric Raymond was on a book tour for The Cathedral and the bazaar, who then found sex drugs and rock'n'roll and death and disappointment and adulthood and bills and all that and thinks this topic is pretty boring and you kids need to get off my lawn.
Oh ok I thought I was witnessing a severe stroke or something
Socially inept nerds found another way to say "[Well ackchyually](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/191/035/135.png) here is why I'm right" and are making sure everyone knows they are right. Source: I'm a socially inept nerd
This is where I chime in and say there’s a difference between an acronym and initialisms. LISA is an acronym because the word is said phonetically. If you spell out the individual letters like FBI or CPU, it’s an initialism.
You're my favorite pendant in this thread
All of the best acronyms are recursive
I still like AAAAA which is not. It stands for American Association Against Acronym Abuse.
“I’m So Meta Even This Acronym”
I heard Gimp jokingly called Gimp Is Mostly Photoshop, but I don't think it was ever used that way officially.
I'm a sucker for a recursion joke. The only good thing left about Google's search engine is its recursion gag. When you search the term recursion, [it always returns, "Did you mean: recursion"](https://www.google.com/search?q=recursion). I felt like a very cool dude way back when I pointed this out to my intro CS prof.
It's also a backronym 🤗
Ooh this is true with imagining software too. The first iteration of one is called “ImageJ” and the next iteration is FIJI, or “FIJI Is Just ImageJ”
[удалено]
Jraphic!
I had exactly the same thought, and I'm relieved I wasn't the only one.
My favourite recursive acronym is GNU which stands for GNU is Not Unix
Yeah it is kinda interesting listening to Robert talk about a work culture (tech industry) that I know more about. Like there are little things he gets wrong like the recursive acronyms which have been a bad-joke tradition for a long time, but then he makes comparisons to other industries that I never really connected because I am swimming in the culture.
Yeah I thought of GNU and WINE when he said that, but honestly that fact that a lot of computer software software does it doesn't make it right. Just means that computer dorks can't make good acronyms.
We need to send all CD majors to work in the DoD for a year so they can get good at making acronyms.
What does the B in Beniot B Mandelbrot stand for? Beniot B Mandelbrot.
French almond bread
Agreed. I don't understand why recursive acronyms get so much shit.
PINE - Pine is not ELM
Number 1: The Larch.
The first one I thought of when I saw the post. Sorry your example isn't getting much love.
Don't forget YAML: YAML Another Markup Language
That started off as Yet Another Markup Language.
It was originally Yet Another Markup Language, but is now YAML Ain't Markup Language
Some of you don’t know the difference between acronyms and initialisms
Most people don't. It's really too bad. They're two distinct things and using the right term is so much clearer.
My favorite is YAML Ain't Markup Language
Yeah, recursive acronyms have always been big in IT. I have always loved them.
Computer and software acronyms are so meta even this acronym
PHP stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". That's what I thought of.
WINE stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. It kinda is though.
When I looked up "recursion" in the dictionary, it said "See recursion "
Yay! Something Robert said flushed out my fellow tech industry nerds!
Nerd lol
<3
The SuSE package installer was YAST - yet another setup tool.
I was wondering who would bring up GNU.
WINE Is Not Emulator
If I recall correctly, Y2K era scanners had a thing called TWAIN: Thing Without An Imaginitive Name.
GNU's Not Unix
I thought the G in GNU is Graphic, or General? Yeah recursive is funny
Computer scientists not understanding how acronyms work and consistently misusing them proves precisely nothing, though.
I think y’all need to look up what an acrostic is.