Acronym

====Acronyms as legendary etymology====
{{See also|Backronym}}
It is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of [[false etymology]], called a [[folk etymology]], for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no factual basis in [[historical linguistics]], and are examples of language-related [[urban legend]]s. For example, "[[Police officer|cop]]" is commonly cited as being derived, it is presumed, from "constable on patrol",<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp |title=Does Cop = 'Constable on Patrol'? |date=May 3, 2007}}</ref> and "[[Posh (nautical term)|posh]]" from "[[port outward, starboard home]]".<ref name="posh">{{Cite book |title=Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths |publisher=Penguin Books |last=Quinion |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Quinion |isbn=978-0-14-101223-0 |date=2005}}; published in the US as {{Cite book |title=Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds |last=Quinion |first=Michael |date=2006 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-085153-8 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/ballyhoobuckaroo0000quin_z4e2 |via=Internet Archive |access-date=March 4, 2020}}</ref> With some of these specious expansions, the "belief" that the etymology is acronymic has clearly been [[tongue-in-cheek]] among many citers, as with "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" for "[[golf]]", although many other (more [[wikt:credulous|credulous]]) people have uncritically taken it for fact.<ref name="posh" /><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp |title=See article at Snopes |date=February 20, 2002 |publisher=Snopes.com |access-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220506042707/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.asp |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Taboo word]]s in particular commonly have such false etymologies: "[[shit]]" from "ship/store high in transit"<ref name="Wilton" /><ref name="etymonline.com2">{{cite web |url= http://www.etymonline.com/baloney.php |title=Etymonline.com |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=September 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220417143143/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.asp |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> or "special high-intensity training" and "[[fuck]]" from "for unlawful carnal knowledge", or "fornication under consent/command of the king".<ref name="etymonline.com2" />