What acronyms have become common words or are otherwise interesting?

The following is the list of acronyms which have become common nouns.
An acronym is "a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each
of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term" (Webster's
Tenth).  A common noun will occur uncapitalized in a major dictionary.
An acronym is distinguished from an initialism, such as "PDQ" or "PC,"
in which all the letters are pronounced individually with their names
as letters.  Initialisms are usually written with capital letters, but
some, such as "pdq," can be written in lower case.  A true acronym is
also distinguished from a blend.  A blend will be formed from the
initial syllables, as opposed to initial letter or letters, of one or
more of the parts of the compound term.

Entries in the following table include the approximate year in which
they first entered the language, and the dictionary that first contains
them.  The following dictionaries are used:

9C      Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, 1983)
10C     Collegiate Dictionary - Tenth Edition (Merriam-Webster, 1993)
AH3     American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition (Houghton Mifflin, 1992)
NI1     New International Dictionary (G. & C. Merriam, 1909)
NI1+    New Words section of the New International (1931)
NI2     New International Dictionary Second Edition (G. & C. Merriam, 1934)
NI2+    Addendum section of the Second (1959, same as 1954)
NI3     Third New International Dictionary (G. & C. Merriam, 1961)
12W     12,000 Words (separately published addendum to the Third, 1986)
NI3+    Addendum section of the Third (1993)
OED2    Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition (Oxford, 1994)
RH2     Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition (Randon House, 1992)
TCD     The Chambers Dictionary (Chambers, 1993)

asdic   Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee (1940, NI2+)
base    Building + Aerial + Span + Earthbound object (?, TCD)
dopa    DihydrOxyPhenylAlanine (1917, NI3)
fido    Freaks + Irregulars + Defects + Oddities (1966, 9C)
fifo    First In, First Out (1945, NI2+)
jato    Jet-Assisted TakeOff (1947, NI2+)
laser   Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (1957, NI3)
lidar   LIght Detection And Ranging (1963, 9C)
lifo    Last In, First Out (1945, NI2+)
maser   Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (1955, NI3)
musa    Multiple Unit Steerable Antenna (1937, OED2)
nitinol NIckel + TIn + Naval Ordinance Laboratory (1968, 9C)
nomic   NO Metal In Composition (?, NI3)
obo     Oil Bulk Ore (?, TCD)
rad     Radiation Absorbed Dose (1918, NI3)
radar   RAdio Detection And Ranging (ca. 1941, NI2+)
rem     Roentgen Equivalent Man (1947, NI3)
rep     Roentgen Equivalent Physical (1947, NI3)
rhm     Roentgen per Hour at one Meter (?, NI3)
scuba   Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (1952, NI3)
shazam  Solomon Hercules Atlas Zeus Achilles Mercury (?, 12W)
snafu   Situation Normal -- All Fucked (Fouled) Up (ca. 1940, NI2+)
sofar   SOund Fixing And Ranging (1946, NI2+)
sonar   SOund NAvigation Ranging (1945, NI2+)
spool   Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On-Line (?, AH3)
tepa    Tri-Ethylene Phosphor-Amide (1953, 9C)
wysiwyg What You See Is What You Get (1982, TCD)
zip     Zone Improvement Plan (1963, 9C)

Below are blends that technically are also acronyms:

alnico  ALuminum + NIckel + CObalt (1935, NI2+)
avgas   AViation GASoline (1943, NI3)
benelux BElgium + NEtherlands + LUXemburg (1947, NI3)
biopic  BIOgraphical PICture (?, 12W)
boff    Box OFFice (1946, NI3)
bren    BRno + ENfield (?, NI3)
canola  CANada Oil + Low Acid (1979, 10C)
ceramal CERAMic ALloy (ca. 1948, NI2+)
cermet  CERamic METal (1948, NI2+)
comsymp COMmunist SYMPathizer (ca. 1961, 9C)
cyborg  CYBernetic ORGanism (ca. 1962, 9C)
dorper  DORset horn + blackhead PERsian (1949, NI3)
elhi    ELementary school + HIgh school (1948, 9C)
gox     Gaseous OXygen (1959, 9C)
hela    HEnrietta LAcks (1953, 9C)
kip     KIlo- + Pound (1914, NI2)
linac   LINear ACcelerator (1950, 9C)
loran   LOng-RAnge Navigation (ca. 1932, NI2+)
lox     Liquid OXygen (1923, 9C)
mascon  MASs CONcentration (1968, 9C)
maximin MAXImum + MINimum (1951, 9C)
minimax MINImum + MAXimum (1918, 9C)
modem   MOdulator + DEModulator (ca. 1952, 9C)
motocross MOTOr + CROSS-country (1951, 9C)
napalm  NAphthenic and PALMitic acids (1942, NI2+)
parsec  PARallax SECond (ca. 1913, NI1+)
quango  QUAsi-Non Governmental Organization (1973, 12W)
redox   REDuction + OXidation (1928, NI2)
selsyn  SELf-SYNchronizing (1936, NI2+)
shoran  SHOrt-RAnge Navigation (ca. 1932, NI2+)
silvex  SILVa + EXterminator (1961, 9C)
sitcom  SITuation COMedy (1965, 9C)
squid   Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (1967, NI3+)
sten    Sheppard + Turpin + ENfield (1942, NI3)
sysop   SYStem OPerator (1983, 10C)
tacan   TACtical Air Navigation (?, 12W)
teleran TELEvision-RAdar Navigation (1946, NI2+)
telex   TELeprinter EXchange (ca. 1943, 9C)
vidicon VIDeo + ICONoscope (1950, NI3)
wilco   WILl COmply (ca. 1938, NI3)

Acronyms from other languages:

agitprop AGITatsiya + PROPaganda (Russian, ca. 1926, NI2+)
flak    FLiegerAbwehrKanonen (German, 1938, NI2+)
gestapo GEheime STAatsPOlizei (German, 1934, NI2+)
gulag   Glavnoe Upravlenie ispravitel'notrudovykh LAGerei (Russian, 1974, 9C)
kolkhoz KOLlektivnoe KHOZyaistvo (Russian, 1921, NI2)
moped   MOtor + PEDal (Swedish, ca. 1955, 9C)
sambo   SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya (Russian, 1972, 9C)
tokamak TOroidal'naya KAMera s AKsial'nym magnitnym polem (Russian, 1965, 9C)
ursigram Union Radiophonique Scientifique Internationale GRAM- (French, 1930,
        NI3)

Selected near misses:

athodyd Aero-THermODYnamic Duct (1945, NI2+) -- blend
awol    Absent WithOut Leave (1919, NI2+) -- usually capitalized
benday  BENjamin DAY (1903, NI1+) -- blend
deet    Di-Ethyl Tolumide (1962, 9C) -- pronunciation of D. E. T.
delmarva DELaware + MARyland + VirginiA (?, 10C) -- uses VA for Virginia
dew     Distant Early Warning (1953, 9C) -- only in phrase "dew line"
dinky   Double Income No Kids + -Y (?, TCD) -- extraneous suffix
echovirus Enteric Cytopathogenic Human Orphan VIRUS (1955, 9C) -- blend
hi-fi   HIgh FIdelity (1948, NI2+) -- hyphenated
ibuprofen Iso-BUtyl PROpionic PHENyl (1969, 12W) -- PH pronounced f
jaygee  Junior Grade (1943, NI3) -- pronunciation of J. G.
jayvee  Junior Varsity (1937, NI3) -- pronunciation of J. V.
jeep    General Purpose (1940, NI2+) -- pronunciation of G. P.
nazi    NAtionalsoZIalist (German, 1930, NI2) -- shorten & alter
nepman  New Economic Policy + MAN (1922, OED2) -- extraneous suffix
nystatin New York STATe + -IN (1952, NI3) -- extraneous suffix
op-ed   OPposite EDitorial (1970, 9C) -- hyphenated
pixel   PIX + ELement (1969, 10C) -- blend
pj's    PaJamas (1951, NI3) -- punctuated
reovirus Respiratory Enteric Orphan VIRUS (1959, 9C) -- blend
sci-fi  SCIence FIction (1955, 9C) -- hyphenated
siloxane SILicon + OXygen + methANE (1922, NI3) -- blend
tradevman TRAining DEVices MAN  (ca. 1947, NI3) -- blend
updo    UPswept hairDO (1946, NI2+) -- blend
veep    Vice President (1940, NI2+) -- pronunciation of V. P.
warfarin Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation + coumARIN (ca. 1950, NI3) - blend
yappy   Young Aspiring Professional + -PY (TCD) -- extraneous suffix
yuppie  Young Urban Professional + -PIE (1983, 9C) -- extraneous suffix

Self-referential acronyms:

eine    Eine Is Not Emacs
gnu     Gnu's Not Unix
gotcha  Group Opposed To Creating Half-witted Acronyms
liar    Liar Imitates Apply Recursively
mince   Mince Is Not Complete Emacs
nbi     Nothing But Initials
pine    Pine Is Not Elm
swan    System Without A Name
tiara   Tiara Is A Recursive Acronym
tla     Tla League of Ameica
twain   Technology Without An Interesting Name
visa    Visa International Service Association
wine    Wine Is Not an Emulator
zwei    Zwei Was Eine Initially

Supposed acronyms, with what is known about their true origins:

fuck    For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge [Dutch fokken, 15th century]
gorp    Good Old Raisins and Peanuts [origin unknown, 1968]
posh    Port Out, Starboard Home [origin unknown, 1918]
spiff   Sales Productivity Incentive Fund [English dialect, 1877]
tip     To Insure (should be Ensure) Politeness (or Promptness) [1610]
wog     Worthy (Wealthy) Oriental Gentleman [golliwog, c. 1929]
wop     WithOut Papers [Italian dialect guappo, 1908]

[ Editor: from a December 1996 rec.puzzles thread "Self-referring
Acronyms"; TWAIN, the other example in the posting, is already listed
above. ]

I Am Chairman Of Chrysler Corporation America = IACOCCA

-- Matthew Daly <daly@PPD.Kodak.COM>