1393:
150:
An earlier example appears in a 1976 textbook on data structures, in which the pseudo-language SPARKS is used to define the algorithms discussed in the text. "SPARKS" is claimed to be a non-acronymic name, but "several cute ideas have been suggested" as expansions of the name. One of the suggestions
680:
Most recursive acronyms are recursive on the first letter, which is therefore an arbitrary choice, often selected for reasons of humour, ease of pronunciation, or consistency with an earlier acronym that used the same letters for different words, such as PHP, which now stands for "PHP: Hypertext
146:
Recursive acronym examples often include negatives, such as denials that the thing defined is or resembles something else (which the thing defined does in fact resemble or is even derived from), to indicate that, despite the similarities, it was distinct from the program on which it was based.
71:: either an existing ordinary acronym is given a new explanation of what the letters stand for, or a name is turned into an acronym by giving the letters an explanation of what they stand for, in each case with the first letter standing recursively for the whole acronym.
659:
claims the distinction of being the first recursive anti-acronym: 'Jini Is Not
Initials'. It might, however, be more properly termed an anti-backronym because the term "Jini" never stood for anything in the first place. The more recent
54:, in which Hofstadter invents the acronym GOD, meaning "GOD Over Djinn", to help explain infinite series, and describes it as a recursive acronym. Other references followed, however the concept was used as early as 1968 in
676:
RPM, PHP, XBMC and YAML were originally conventional acronyms which were later redefined recursively. They are examples of, or may be referred to as, backronymization, where the official meaning of an acronym is
1344:
507:: Hijas e Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (literally, "Daughters and Sons for Identity and Justice against Forgetfulness and Silence")
1070:
597:
as "Guitar Rock
Utilizing Nihilist Grunge Energy", another uncommon example of a recursive acronym whose recursive letter is neither the first nor the last letter.
91:, was to choose acronyms and abbreviations that referred humorously to themselves or to other abbreviations. Perhaps the earliest example in this context is the
873:
1144:
1096:
810:
935:
1340:
1285:
1365:
1232:
832:
535:
906:
88:
1062:
1303:
987:
64:. In the story, the acronym EPT (Education for a Particular Task) later morphed into "Eptification for Particular Task".
200:
1013:
621:
series of video games. "KOS-MOS" is a recursive acronym meaning "Kosmos Obey
Strategical Multiple Operation System".
1035:
961:
593:
877:
1254:
17:
1328:
233:
1202:
1092:
347:: PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (from "Personal Home Page Tools", more frequently referenced as "PHP Tools.")
304:
194:
179:: Allegro Low LEvel Game ROutines (early versions for Atari ST were called "Atari Low Level Game Routines")
1148:
806:
650:
1176:
760:
372:
295:
263:
104:
100:
1397:
896:
492:
44:, and appears most frequently in computer programming. The term was first used in print in 1979 in
696:, which Mandelbrot studied, repeat themselves at smaller and smaller scales when examined closely.
325:: Nagios Ain't Gonna Insist On Sainthood (a reference to the previous name of Nagios, "Netsaint";
99:, and revised to "Mung Until No Good". It lived on as a recursive command in the editing language
1435:
1430:
927:
510:
251:
55:
788: – Family of knowledge representation languages, which intentionally uses the acronym "OWL"
50:
785:
779:
689:
649:
project is named with a mutually recursive acronym: "Hurd" stands for "Hird Unix-Replacing
350:
316:
96:
769: – Acronym redundantly coupled with its word(s) (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome)
8:
474:: ZWEI Was EINE Initially ("eins" and "zwei" are German for "one" and "two" respectively)
378:
354:
550:. However it can be debatable as "Oil" is a noun and the company is in the oil industry.
1440:
1420:
526:
406:
245:
45:
1425:
1415:
1324:
1224:
902:
624:
84:
60:
836:
600:
498:
188:
132:
1307:
717:
423:
224:
176:
1009:
772:
563:
516:
152:
1298:
983:
1409:
661:
582:
540:
447:
269:
185:: AROS Research Operating System (originally Amiga Research Operating System)
741:(ציצת in its Biblical spelling, meaning "ritual fringes") is an acronym for
912:
892:
766:
709:
587:
402:
375:: officially "Portable Network Graphics", but unofficially "PNG's not GIF".
360:
108:
1377:
732:
300:
1392:
1039:
957:
357:, originally; PINE now officially stands for "Pine Internet News E-mail"
639:
605:
393:: TikZ ist kein Zeichenprogramm (German; TikZ is not a drawing program)
1262:
874:"The Free Software Movement and the Future of Freedom: The name "GNU""
456:: YAML Ain't Markup Language (initially "Yet Another Markup Language")
547:
338:
92:
80:
68:
41:
1118:
713:
693:
646:
617:
390:
366:
291:
131:), in turn inspiring Anderson's retort SINE ("SINE is not EINE").
1198:
737:
612:
571:
396:
37:
681:
Preprocessor", but was originally "Personal Home Page". However
417:
578:
411:
384:
322:
228:
653:", and "Hird" stands for "Hurd Interfaces Representing Depth."
1142:
609:. His name itself is an acronym standing for "Beware of BOB".
513:: HIM International Music, Taiwanese independent record label
504:
429:
285:
212:
116:
688:
A joke implying that the middle initial "B." in the name of
162:
language, which stands for "YAML ain't markup language" and
103:. In 1977 programmer Ted Anderson coined TINT ("TINT Is Not
95:"Mash Until No Good", which was created in 1960 to describe
1172:
685:, "Your own personal YOPY" is recursive on the last letter.
682:
656:
471:
465:
459:
453:
441:
435:
310:
275:
257:
218:
206:
182:
159:
140:
124:
112:
890:
692:
stands for "Benoit B. Mandelbrot" plays on the idea that
664:", on the other hand, was deliberately designed that way.
344:
332:
279:
239:
163:
136:
775: – Sentence, idea or formula that refers to itself
575:
comic strip. The initials stand for "The TTP Project".
313:: MiNT is Not TOS (later changed to "MiNT is Now TOS")
107:"), an editor for MagicSix. This inspired the two MIT
566:
stand for
Commodore Commodore Dynamic Total Vision.
438:: XBMC Media Center (originally Xbox Media Center)
807:"Puzzles and Paradoxes: Infinity in Finite Terms"
155:"Smart Programmers Are Required to Know SPARKS".
27:Acronym whose expansion includes a copy of itself
1407:
1143:Paloma de la Paz Montes Araya (5 October 2010).
871:
166:language meaning "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor".
1286:"Miata Is The Answer: Why I Finally Bought One"
1283:
857:
484:
236:: GiNaC is Not a CAS (Computer Algebra System)
1002:
414:: TRESOR Runs Encryption Securely Outside RAM
1277:
1028:
735:, a 16th-century kabbalist, the Hebrew word
51:Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
763: – Redundancy in linguistic expression
1341:"Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of Rosh Hashana 2:23"
745:("a righteous person should separate his
603:: the primary antagonist from the series
1225:"Visa International Service Association"
925:
387:: SPARQL Protocol And RDF Query Language
215:: Darcs Advanced Revision Control System
724:(אדם, meaning "man") is an acronym for
127:("ZWEI Was EINE Initially", German for
14:
1408:
1347:from the original on 30 September 2021
632:
627:'s "A・I・R" stands for "AIR IN RESORT".
536:Visa International Service Association
495:(formerly British West Indian Airways)
1376:This article is based in part on the
1099:from the original on 24 February 2020
964:from the original on 12 February 2016
813:from the original on 15 November 2012
1085:
938:from the original on 6 December 2015
203:: CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment
1179:from the original on 2 January 2020
1060:
976:
950:
851:
341:: Ninja-IDE Is Not Just Another IDE
74:
24:
1284:David LaChance (4 November 2023).
1235:from the original on 25 April 2021
1073:from the original on 30 March 2022
926:Stenberg, Daniel (20 March 2015).
761:Bilingual tautological expressions
67:Recursive acronyms typically form
25:
1452:
1385:
1205:from the original on 10 June 2022
990:from the original on 15 June 2015
872:Richard Stallman (9 March 2006).
569:TTP: a technology project in the
479:
462:: Yara: Another Recursive Acronym
1391:
1380:, which is in the public domain.
1016:from the original on 2 July 2013
858:Daniel Weinreb (8 August 1977),
743:tzaddik yafrid tzitziyotav tamid
1359:
1333:
1313:
1300:FAQ for JINI-USERS Mailing List
1292:
1247:
1217:
1199:"MOM's Organic Market homepage"
1191:
1165:
1136:
1111:
1054:
898:Fundamentals Of Data Structures
860:Electronic message to BUG-LISPM
432:: XAMPP Apache MariaDB PHP Perl
288:: LiVES is Video Editing System
919:
884:
865:
825:
799:
519:: MEGA Encrypted Global Access
501:: "Cygnus, Your GNU Solutions"
420:: UIRA Isn't Recursive Acronym
329:is the Greek word for "saint")
197:: BIRD Internet Routing Daemon
13:
1:
1396:The dictionary definition of
1323:Arnold et al, Pearson, 1999,
1036:"What Pine Really Stands For"
792:
642:: MIATA is Always the Answer
260:: grpc Remote Procedure Calls
1310:, Retrieved 18 November 2013
1093:"FAQ—The Official Wine Wiki"
1063:"Web Review: PNG's NOT GIF!"
83:, an early tradition in the
7:
833:"WordSpy—Recursive Acronym"
754:
555:
485:Companies and organizations
369:: P.I.P.S. Is POSIX Symbian
266:: JACK Audio Connection Kit
169:
10:
1457:
1119:"Airline Timetable Images"
928:"curl, 17 years old today"
901:. Computer Science Press.
669:
209:: Curl URL Request Library
1306:17 September 2013 at the
782:for three-letter acronyms
522:MOM: MOM's Organic Market
399:: TiLP is Linking Program
254:: GPE Palmtop Environment
87:community, especially at
58:'s science fiction novel
1201:. MOM's Organic Market.
701:
543:: ZINC Is Not Commercial
493:BWIA West Indies Airways
248:: GNE's Not Encyclopedia
1321:The Jini Specification,
1255:"Dilbert's TTP Project"
1123:www.timetableimages.com
984:"The Jargon File: Mung"
615:: a character from the
363:: PIP Installs Packages
191:: ATI Technologies Inc.
158:Other examples are the
1149:Heinrich Böll Stiftung
712:, a 16th–17th century
426:: WINE Is Not Emulator
786:Web Ontology Language
562:The initials for the
531:TAP: TAP Air Portugal
468:: Zinf Is Not FreeAmp
450:: XNA's Not Acronym'd
381:: RPM Package Manager
1366:Mishnah Brurah, 8:18
780:three-letter acronym
728:(man, speech, deed).
726:adam, dibbur, maaseh
690:Benoit B. Mandelbrot
319:: Mung Until No Good
1151:- Santiago de Chile
633:Brands and products
221:: EINE Is Not Emacs
527:Saab Automobile AB
444:: XINU Is Not Unix
246:GNE (encyclopedia)
46:Douglas Hofstadter
1399:recursive acronym
1229:www.bloomberg.com
1067:people.apache.org
908:978-0-914894-20-9
880:on 16 March 2015.
839:on 8 October 2014
625:Hiroshi Yoshimura
548:Oil India Limited
353:: PINE Is Nearly
335:: NiL Isn't Liero
61:Stand on Zanzibar
34:recursive acronym
16:(Redirected from
1448:
1395:
1368:
1363:
1357:
1356:
1354:
1352:
1337:
1331:
1319:Introduction to
1317:
1311:
1296:
1290:
1289:
1288:. MSN. Hemmings.
1281:
1275:
1274:
1272:
1270:
1261:. Archived from
1251:
1245:
1244:
1242:
1240:
1221:
1215:
1214:
1212:
1210:
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1058:
1052:
1051:
1049:
1047:
1038:. Archived from
1032:
1026:
1025:
1023:
1021:
1010:"History of PHP"
1006:
1000:
999:
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995:
980:
974:
973:
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954:
948:
947:
945:
943:
923:
917:
916:
891:Ellis Horowitz;
888:
882:
881:
876:. Archived from
869:
863:
862:
855:
849:
848:
846:
844:
835:. Archived from
829:
823:
822:
820:
818:
803:
499:CYGNUS Solutions
242:: GNU's Not Unix
133:Richard Stallman
75:Use in computing
42:refers to itself
21:
1456:
1455:
1451:
1450:
1449:
1447:
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1445:
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1405:
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1372:
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1350:
1348:
1339:
1338:
1334:
1318:
1314:
1308:Wayback Machine
1297:
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1282:
1278:
1268:
1266:
1265:on 10 July 2018
1253:
1252:
1248:
1238:
1236:
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1074:
1061:Roelofs, Greg.
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558:
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487:
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477:
303:: MINDY Is Not
272:: KGS Go Server
227:: FIJI Is Just
172:
111:editors called
77:
28:
23:
22:
18:The TTP Project
15:
12:
11:
5:
1454:
1444:
1443:
1438:
1436:Types of words
1433:
1431:Self-reference
1428:
1423:
1418:
1404:
1403:
1387:
1386:External links
1384:
1383:
1382:
1370:
1369:
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1332:
1312:
1291:
1276:
1246:
1216:
1190:
1164:
1135:
1110:
1084:
1053:
1042:on 7 June 2011
1027:
1001:
975:
949:
932:daniel.haxx.se
918:
907:
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797:
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773:Self-reference
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686:
678:
673:
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634:
631:
629:
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622:
610:
598:
594:That '90s Show
576:
567:
564:Commodore CDTV
559:
557:
554:
552:
551:
544:
538:
532:
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523:
520:
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488:
486:
483:
481:
480:Other examples
478:
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394:
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314:
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298:
294:: MINT Is Not
289:
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243:
237:
231:
222:
216:
210:
204:
198:
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153:tail recursive
135:followed with
119:", German for
115:("EINE Is Not
76:
73:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1453:
1442:
1439:
1437:
1434:
1432:
1429:
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1424:
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1419:
1417:
1414:
1413:
1411:
1402:at Wiktionary
1401:
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758:
749:constantly").
748:
744:
740:
739:
734:
731:According to
730:
727:
723:
719:
715:
711:
708:According to
707:
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589:
584:
583:Homer Simpson
581:: defined by
580:
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549:
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281:
278:: LAME Ain't
277:
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35:
30:
19:
1398:
1375:
1361:
1351:30 September
1349:. Retrieved
1335:
1320:
1315:
1299:
1294:
1279:
1267:. Retrieved
1263:the original
1258:
1249:
1237:. Retrieved
1228:
1219:
1207:. Retrieved
1193:
1181:. Retrieved
1167:
1155:. Retrieved
1153:(in Spanish)
1147:
1145:"H.I.J.O.S."
1138:
1126:. Retrieved
1122:
1113:
1101:. Retrieved
1087:
1075:. Retrieved
1066:
1056:
1044:. Retrieved
1040:the original
1030:
1018:. Retrieved
1004:
992:. Retrieved
978:
966:. Retrieved
958:"About LAME"
952:
940:. Retrieved
931:
921:
913:Google Books
911:– via
897:
893:Sartaj Sahni
886:
878:the original
867:
859:
853:
841:. Retrieved
837:the original
827:
815:. Retrieved
801:
767:RAS syndrome
746:
742:
736:
725:
721:
710:Hayyim Vital
616:
604:
592:
588:The Simpsons
586:
570:
405:: TIP isn't
326:
157:
149:
145:
128:
120:
109:Lisp Machine
78:
66:
59:
56:John Brunner
49:
33:
31:
29:
1378:Jargon File
1239:16 November
1128:16 November
1077:24 November
1012:. php.net.
968:20 February
843:18 December
733:Isaac Luria
139:(GNU's Not
1410:Categories
1329:0201616343
1183:19 January
1103:16 January
994:15 October
793:References
606:Twin Peaks
69:backwardly
1441:Word play
1421:Recursion
778:TLA, the
714:kabbalist
339:Ninja-ide
93:backronym
81:computing
1426:Rhetoric
1416:Acronyms
1345:Archived
1304:Archived
1233:Archived
1203:Archived
1177:Archived
1097:Archived
1071:Archived
1014:Archived
988:Archived
962:Archived
942:20 March
936:Archived
895:(1976).
817:23 April
811:Archived
755:See also
694:fractals
677:changed.
647:GNU Hurd
618:Xenosaga
591:episode
556:In media
367:P.I.P.S.
170:Examples
48:'s book
1259:Dilbert
1157:20 June
1046:6 March
1020:18 June
747:tzitzit
738:tzitzit
670:Special
651:Daemons
613:KOS-MOS
572:Dilbert
282:Encoder
177:Allegro
151:is the
38:acronym
1327:
1269:9 July
1209:8 June
1173:"MEGA"
905:
718:Hebrew
716:, the
579:GRUNGE
534:VISA:
525:SAAB:
491:BWIA:
412:TRESOR
385:SPARQL
323:Nagios
229:ImageJ
123:) and
85:hacker
36:is an
720:word
702:Other
640:MIATA
546:OIL:
505:HIJOS
430:XAMPP
327:agios
305:Dylan
301:MINDY
286:LiVES
234:GiNaC
213:Darcs
117:Emacs
40:that
1353:2021
1325:ISBN
1271:2018
1241:2021
1211:2022
1185:2013
1159:2024
1130:2021
1105:2009
1079:2021
1048:2007
1022:2013
996:2007
970:2016
944:2015
903:ISBN
845:2008
819:2013
722:adam
683:YOPY
657:Jini
645:The
541:ZINC
517:MEGA
472:ZWEI
466:Zinf
460:YARA
454:YAML
442:XINU
436:XBMC
424:WINE
418:UIRA
407:Pico
397:TiLP
391:TikZ
351:PINE
317:Mung
311:MiNT
296:TRAC
292:MINT
276:LAME
264:JACK
258:gRPC
225:FIJI
219:EINE
207:cURL
201:CAVE
195:BIRD
183:AROS
160:YAML
141:Unix
125:ZWEI
113:EINE
105:TECO
101:TECO
97:Mung
662:XNA
601:BOB
585:in
511:HIM
448:XNA
403:TIP
379:RPM
373:PNG
361:PIP
355:Elm
345:PHP
333:NiL
307:Yet
280:MP3
270:KGS
252:GPE
240:GNU
189:ATI
164:PHP
143:).
137:GNU
129:two
121:one
89:MIT
79:In
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