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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

401.0. "Acronym -> noun -> verb" by AKOV76::BOYAJIAN (Science Is Golden) Fri Aug 21 1987 02:59

    Note #400 started me thinking on a tangent.
    
    How many examples are there of an acronym becoming a "real"
    word, and then begetting other words?
    
    For example:
    
    Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, or
    LASER, eventually became a "real" word, "laser", which in turn,
    begat the verb "to lase" and the gerund "lasing" (as in, "Carbon
    dioxide is a popular lasing medium.")
    
    Can anyone think of any others?
    
    --- jerry
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401.1Really?WELSWS::MANNIONFarewell Welfare, Pt. 3Fri Aug 21 1987 05:559
    "To lase"???????? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
    
    Gee, you Murricans.
    
    What about Light Emitting Diodes giving LEDded windows?
    
    OK, I made it up, but it's still early over here, and it's Friday.
    
    Phillip
401.2jeep?MARVIN::KNOWLESMen's sauna in corpore sanoFri Aug 21 1987 08:535
    If there's a verb 'to bus' (transitive in American English and 
    intransitive in British English), what about 'jeep' as a verb?
    That would qualify (General Purpose).
    
    Bob
401.3Lase that alien!COMICS::KEYCalling International Rescue...Fri Aug 21 1987 09:2312
    From my days as a Physics undergraduate (England) I remember "to
    lase" being used. I don't think anyone would have put it into a
    technical document, though. Physicists have a pretty low standard
    of literacy, anyway.
    
    From the same source, we have:
    
    Quasar (Quasi-Stellar object)
    Pulsar (Pulsating Stellar object)
    Radar (damn, what *was* that short for?)
    
    Andy
401.4ERASER::KALLISRaise Hallowe'en awareness.Fri Aug 21 1987 09:326
    Re .3:
    >Radar (damn, what *was* that short for?)
    
    RAdio Detection And Ranging.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
401.5Off the beam?TOPDOC::SLOANEBruce is on the looseFri Aug 21 1987 10:153
    On weekends, many people just lase around the house.
    
    -bs
401.6SCUBAKESEY::GETSINGEREric GetsingerFri Aug 21 1987 11:581
self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
401.7What was that...VAXWRK::SIMONFri Aug 21 1987 17:328
    Re .2
    
    >...(General Purpose)
    
    or was that General Motors... Oh yes, it was American Motors...
    
    I'm so confused
    
401.8AKOV68::BOYAJIANScience Is GoldenSat Aug 22 1987 09:2312
    re:.1
    
    Yes, "to lase" means "to function as a laser; emit coherent radiation
    by the action of a laser." The AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY gives
    its etymology as "Back-formation from LASER".
    
    re:.3 & .6
    
    Well, those acronyms certainly have becomes "real" words, though
    they haven't gone quite the distance that laser has.
    
    --- jerry
401.9SPOOLing, anyone?IND::BOWERSCount Zero InterruptMon Sep 14 1987 18:013
    Someone may remember that "spool" (e.g., what you do with printer
    output) originally stood for "Simultaneous Peripheral Operations
    On Line".
401.10ERIS::CALLASStrange days, indeed.Tue Sep 15 1987 10:387
    Sorry, but I raise an eyebrow at that. Spool (meaning to wind on to a
    spool) is a wonderfully poetic vision of what you do when you spool
    stuff to the printer. I don't doubt that someone somewhere created that
    acronym, but I'll bet the term came first, the acronym second. Do you
    have a reference? 
    
    	Jon
401.11IND::BOWERSCount Zero InterruptTue Sep 15 1987 11:163
    I don't remember the exact reference, but I believe it was an IBM
    manual from the 1401 era. And yes, IBM used to be very good at turning
    words into acronyms.
401.12Intentional densityLYMPH::LAMBERTSeems to me it's ChemistryTue Sep 15 1987 18:136
    Gee, I didn't know IBM was producing products ("producting"?  :-)) in 
    1401.  Wow.  I'm impressed.
    
    ;-)

    -- Sam
401.13Don't you believe what you see on TV?KESEY::GETSINGEREric GetsingerWed Sep 16 1987 13:164
Anyone who watches TV knows that the monks in IBM's ads are not simply 
a product of marketing.  The monks provide a historical reference.

Eric
401.14Not ((HAL)-1)HARDY::KENAHDoing laps in the gene poolWed Sep 16 1987 13:2912
    Sorry, those are Xerox monks...
    
                     Xerox monks...
    
                     Xerox monks...
    
                     Xerox monks...
    
                     Xerox monks...

    
    					andrew
401.15oopsKESEY::GETSINGEREric GetsingerWed Sep 16 1987 16:513
I guess I don't watch enough TV.  :?)  Thanks for straightening me out.

Eric
401.16There's no religion on Madison Ave.DSSDEV::STONERoyWed Sep 16 1987 17:454
    And the fellow who plays (at least he used to about 5 years ago)
    the part of the monk in the Xerox ads is a Jewish boy from New York!
    
    (I met him at a trade show awhile back.)
401.17YIPPEE::LIRONMon Nov 02 1987 11:5310
    In a (great) training facility in the UK, there's a machine
    which has for welcome message:
    
    	Shire  Hall  Internal  Training
    
    
    One more example of an acronym which has grown up to become
    a real word, increasingly used in day-to-day life.
    
    	roger
401.18Not the right sentiment, I guessTHEBAY::GOODMANThat was Zen, this is TaoThu Apr 23 1992 10:426
    I suppose this is the place to put the name of a church near Oakland,
    CA which was the First Unitarian Church of Kensington.
    
    They changed the name recently, though.
    
    Roy