Most of the times, you can tell if a word is an acronym or not. However, they occasionally disguise themselves so successfully making it impossible to remember they do hid words within them.
Well, because every loyal I’m A Useless Info Junkie reader should know these kind of things, here they are: Five everyday words you had no idea they were acronyms.
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5. Scuba
The word ‘scuba’ appeared for the first time in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1952 and it was used to refer to “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”.
4. Sim
You might have anticipated this one, but the majority of the people don’t know quite what it is, so it’s time to clarify things out. The three letters that make the word ‘sim’ stand for “Subscriber Identity Module”.
3. Laser
The earliest record of the word ‘laser’ is from 1960 but how many of us knew that this James Bond gadget is actually an acronym? Well, it is, an acronym of “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission”.
2. Care package
This is hands down the most surprising one: the ‘care’ in care package is an acronym for “Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe” and it was originally used to refer to the aid sent out in the aftermath of WWII.
1. Quango
The word ‘quango’ refers to an administrative body that is connected to a government, however it’s outside the civil service. Despite its tropical-fruit sounding name though, the word stands for a “QUasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organization”.
If you like what you read, then you will definitely love this one: “As Mad As A Hatter”, “Break A Leg” And 3 More Expressions With Crazy Origins
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Sources: 5 words you didn’t know were acronyms | 5 (more) words you didn’t know were acronyms