The Imagination of Computer Scientists

As I've worked with various computer software, I've realized that computer scientists are embarrassingly dorky in many ways. Most directly, I've observed this through Yacc, the syntax analyzer I have been working with. Its acronym means Yet Another Compiler Compiler, alluding to the fact that it compiles code to make compilers. This amusing and endearing name reminded me of similar naming schemes used by other computer scientists.

Researching amusing computer science names led me into the world of acronyms and naming schemes. I learned about recursive acronyms, in which the expansion of the acronym contains the acronym itself. 

GNU = GNU's not Unix!

While GNU's amusing acronym was its initial name, most of the funny names I found were created later on, as humorous takes on the acronym. These are called backronyms, when the expanded name is created from an existing acronym.

Original                                Acronym        Recursive backronym!

Mash Until No Good ==> MUNG ==> MUNG Until No Good.

WINdows Emulator  ==> WINE   ==> WINE Is Not an Emulator

Personal Home Page ==> PHP      ==> PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

These computer scientists actually kill me. They really do. Anyways, I was inspired to create a couple of my own acronym ideas after researching these hilarious names.

BANANA = BANANA: A Nonsensical And Natural Acronym

POTATO = Population Of Teens All Too Overweight

COMPUTER = Can Only Manage Programs Under The Expected RAM 

-RAM is Random Access Memory

NOODLE = Normal Or Ordinary Dinner Leftists Eat

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive_acronym