Acronyms Galore

 Episode 112 of I Hate Talking opens with a lighthearted follow-up to the previous episode’s “data vs. data” debate, where the hosts reveal the tally: “data” (long A) dominated, especially from one host, while the other alternated between pronunciations—even within the same sentence—to distinguish meaning.

The main segment shifts to the episode’s theme: words that originated as acronyms but are now commonly treated as standalone words. The hosts clarify the difference between acronyms and acrostics, then explore familiar examples like “scuba” (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), “laser,” “radar,” and “PIN,” noting how phrases like “PIN number” are technically redundant but widely used. They also touch on modern terms like “FOMO,” “YOLO,” and “LOL,” questioning whether future generations will forget their acronym origins entirely.

A lively debate emerges around the pronunciation of “GIF,” highlighting the divide between the creator’s intended pronunciation and popular usage. The conversation continues with lesser-known origins, including “taser,” which surprisingly derives from “Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle,” named after a fictional character.

The episode wraps with a brief discussion on blended words like “podcast” (from “iPod” and “broadcast”), curiosity about Apple’s naming conventions, and an invitation for listeners to weigh in on lingering questions. As always, the hosts close by reinforcing their core idea: conversation is the starting point for understanding.

Keywords: data centers, AI data centers, data center controversy, Nashville Zoo data center, Brad Paisley data center, water use, electricity demand, cooling requirements, noise pollution, heat output, visual impact, community concerns, environmental concerns, AI infrastructure, cloud computing, conversational podcast.

Transcript

I Hate Talking: 0:29

Welcome to episode 112 of I Hate Talking. Hi everyone. So before we get into this episode's word or phrase of the episode, we do have the results of our self survey from last episode on data versus data. So you did all the listening and tally marks, so why don't you share with our listeners the results. OK, so is it the results, what the word data versus data is, or which both of us said? Said in terms of the pronunciation because I think we talked a little bit about the data versus data last time where data is gonna be typically the more common and accepted pronunciation, but data is acceptable as well. So data with the lawn A was said. 59 times in last week's episode, 59. And that is. 50 times by you and 9 times by me. Well there you go, I guess I am more data oriented. And then data with the short A. We said 8 times. Once by you, and that was in the context of you talking about the difference in the two words. And 7 times by me. So I only use the word data or data. A total of 16 times total, and it was pretty, pretty even. I had 9 times data. 7 times data, you had 50 times data, 1 time data. Interesting. See, I would not have guessed that I would have strictly said data, but I guess I do, unless I'm referring to the less common and less preferred pronunciation data. I went back and forth fairly often and often when we listen to it, if y'all noticed, I don't know if you caught it or not. I would change it if I was using the word in the same sentence, I changed it. If I was talking about, I wonder what the data is on the data. It's how I would use that kind of phrase. So I would change the pronunciation if it was in the same sentence, or you did not, you'd be like, I wonder what the data of the data is. Interesting. Mhm. They're both nouns when you use them, data and data. Yeah, they're, I mean, we talked about it. It's the same word, you can use it either way, but I guess in my head, I would say it differently. To say like, I wonder what the data of the data is, so that way in my head they're two different things, two different categories. Gotcha. Very interesting. I still think I feel fancier when I say data. -- Data with the short -- A. Well, that's like the less formal use. That's what the internet says. Data is the more formal pronunciation, I suppose so. So if you have no idea what we're talking about, you can always go back and listen to our previous episode, episode 111, when we were talking about data centers and Brad Paisley and data centers. I never talked about data centers. But is it Brad Paisley or Brad Paisley? I've always heard Paisley. Yes, me too. -- Is it Brad or -- Braid? There you go. So The word or phrase of this episode is actually an acronym. So This one I was aware of, I saw this in like one of those like, did you know, fact emails that I get that I enjoy reading occasionally that I am purposely subscribed to. OK, and this one was words that were originally acronyms. So do you know any words that were originally acronyms? There's one that's, I think, relatively famous and this article included that, but there were some other ones that I was not aware of, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn of some new ones. OK. That are like legitimate words now or just so commonly used that we think they're words. I'd probably say the latter. They're so commonly used that they're just used as words and probably maybe A lot of people, maybe even the majority of people do not know that they were originally acronyms. OK, I don't know why this word popped in my head cause I haven't said it in Almost, you know, over 20 years, the word avid comes to mind. A, avid, I'm joking. Avid. No, avid would be like. Not an acronym. It's like advance something something. I don't even know what it stands for. It does stand for something though. I used it in high school. I was in that program, and I don't know why that's the first thing that popped in my head. But it's an acronym. I do not know what it stands for. So it's an adjective, according to Duck duck go, it is defined as having or marked by keen interest or enthusiasm, and that is from our favorite American Heritage Dictionary. Well, the school program. Well, if there is a school program. Then I suppose that it could be. Something that is like a play on words that they're using the actual word avid and ascribing words to that to be an acronym. Advanced via individual determination. Via it's a in-school program that helps students in advanced middle build the skills for rigorous course and graduate programs, AVID advancement via individual determination. OK, -- so -- it's a school program that helps, yeah, you get into higher education, right, so that is a word avid that started as a word from the etymology Latin avidus, which means longing eagerly. desirous or greedy, and then Came to be used in the French as a vir to desire eagerly. And then was, I suppose, co-opted by this school program and they ascribed other words to fit the word and that becomes sort of an acrostic. So, OK, so that's an acrostic. And you're talking about what? A word Used today as a word that originally was an acronym. What's the difference between an acronym and acrostic? So acrostic would be an existing word to which you put other words that are in the same sequence of letters as the original word. So that would be an example of the avid in the school program, advanced via individual development. -- Determination -- determination. I was thinking of IDP's individual development plan. Nonetheless, so that would be an acrostic, an existing word. Other words associated to that word in the order of the letters, whereas an acronym will be A sequence of words that then you use the Shortened form or just one letter from each word to combine those into a new phrase or single word. OK, I see the difference. I'm coming up with a 0. Examples So I think the first time that I learned about this was at a summer camp when I was a young child. Wow, we're pulling back from high school. No, this would have been before high school. This would have been middle school of some time. And there was another child that I think shared a Love of language and etymology and was Sort of showing off his skills when he was talking about the word scuba. And that that is not really a word. It is a Acronym That became used as a word and is now so frequently used that people probably think it is exclusively a word. And you were very impressed by that. I was very impressed. So scuba, yes, I have heard that the word scuba isn't a real word, right? -- Even though we -- use it. I mean, now it's essentially a real word, yes, but that is not how it was originally derived. -- And -- what does it stand for? Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. OK. So, most people call it scuba gear, which is actually not really all that correct cause you don't really need gear in the end of that because it already is an apparatus. So it's like self-contained underwater breathing apparatus gear. Right, yeah. But because it's become a term, like when you say I go scuba, you, everyone knows what you mean. I think so. Right, so I mean it's the same thing, right? Like a sub, I guess, right? That'd be a shortened form of submarine, so not quite an -- acronym -- per se. No, isn't substand for like submersible? I don't know. Now I'm just thinking about the Titanic submersible. I was so into that when that happened a couple of years ago, remember? I was giving you like hourly updates. And what was happening. No, it's like submersible. Am I wrong? I don't know. Well, we'll check your sub. Underwater worship. Yes, I'm wrong. So I mean it's a submersible warship, but That comes from submarine. Oh, OK. So scuba, what are some other examples of your Well, another one that is incorrectly used with a acronym followed by another word would be PIN number. Because PIN is another acronym, quote unquote word. What's it stand for? Personal identification number. -- So you say personal -- identification number number. Yes, that's what you're saying when you say PIN number. That's getting more popular. I feel like almost everything nowadays wants a PIN number. I suppose so. Do they? No, I mean, do, I will have to pay attention to this. This happened when like an actual business or like formal request for actually asked for a PIN number and not just a PIN. I don't know. Y'all, let us know too when you see it. It's much more common. Almost every time I sign into anything now, it's asking for, I'd say a PIN number. Maybe not. It was just the pin. -- It might be just the -- pin. So what would happen? Why does my brain add the word number on there? Well, I think so many people just use that so frequently that it's become sort of normal phraseology to just say pin number. Mm. And maybe it's a of the fact that nobody uses PIN as personal identification number when they say that they just think. In and then like as a way of flagging that they're expecting a number or response is that it's pin number so that people actually have a little bit more clarity even though it's sort of nonsensical to say. PIN number. Right, cause anything else you right, you don't say like, give me your code number or give me your password number. Would you say, give me the code? And then you'd give them, yeah, you don't ask for what's your password word, right? So I always say PIN number. Just because it's such a short word, it sounds incomplete, just say give me your PIN. I guess where people just don't know what PIN stands for, and they think that it's like a special thing and then since it's numerical in nature, they add the word number on the end. -- This is -- probably something in 10 years, everyone will say so often that when we say pin number, we're like, showing our age. It's like people when they're like the Facebook. I checked the Facebook. Which is technically right, but you're like, you don't call it the Facebook, you don't call it the Instagram. I checked Instagram. I suppose so. Yeah, or click on the floppy disk to save your document. Yeah, which people don't even call it that anymore, it's a save icon, cause it's just been so ubiquitously associated with saving a document. Right, I mean, the kids know what it is, they know that's the save button, but they don't understand where that symbol comes from. Correct. Yeah. So then another one that I was aware of in the past, but had to check what it actually meant is laser. So that stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Oh, That's not good. So laser is not a word originally, it's an acronym. -- Do -- all lasers have radiation? Well, yeah, in terms of like light radiation, the sun has radiation. That's how you get sunburned. OK, but not like microwavable, right? No, they're not microwaves, they're. Light waves. -- I -- don't know. You're not like supposed to shine those little red lights that you play with cats and stuff. Well, you're not supposed to shine a laser in your eye. That's because it is radiation in the form of wavelengths of light. Yes, highly focused synchronized light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation. OK, what's raser stand for again? What is what? -- Raise laser stand -- for? Laser is light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. What's razor stand for? Razor, like the razor that you use for Cutting open a box. Yeah, does that stand for something? I feel like it should. No, that's just a word. Are you sure? We can check, but -- I'm 99% certain laser -- stands -- for -- something. Well, -- it's -- not even spelled the same. It's not even spelled the same though. They sure sound alike. The word razor originates from the Middle English term razor, which comes from the Old French razor, meaning a razor. Yeah, OK, never mind. Comes from the Latin radi, meaning to scrape or shave. OK, that makes sense, but. They sound like it should be one of those acronyms. So what are some other acronyms, you know? So scuba, laser. So scuba, laser and pin we've talked about. The word radar. is also an acronym, radio detection and ranging. Do these become words in the dictionary because I use them so frequently? Yes, all these are in the dictionary so far. So they used to be acronyms, but now they're actual words. Yep. Hmm. So that one I was aware of, again, would have had to look up the exact words that were used to make up that particular acronym. Now, this one's interesting, do you say GIF or GIF? Oh, no. I have to use it in a sentence. This file Jeff. Yep, that's incorrect. And there's a probably a debate on this, so you, our listeners can let us know if you disagree with my correct answer, but this is because it is not a word, it is an acronym and it stands for graphics interchange format. So the guy, the creator calls it a GIF, right? See, I also disagree with this because there actually is a file type called JIFF, which would be pronounced GIF. So there's actually would be some confusion if you're talking about a GIF or a GIF because there is a JIFF. But the creator said it, right? There's a whole thing about he stood on a stage and said it is pronounced Jeff. I don't know. I don't know this story. We'll have to do some more research on it. OK, look it up. So then how would you say JIFF as a file extension? I think that's just what you call it. No, that's a different extension, different file type. GIF, and then you need a GIF for the GIF. The creator of the format says it's pronounced with a soft G as in GIF. However, public opinion is heavily divided. The vast majority would pronounce it with a hard G. Yes Because it stands for graphic. See, I've heard, I, he stood on the stage, like a big stage a long time ago, and said it's pronounced Jeff. That's why when I paused for a second thinking of how to say it, I remembered his like TED Talk type thing. So what, how does he address the JIF and JIFF file extensions then? I don't know. Maybe it came after that TED Talk, who knows? So then this one I think is probably still more considered an acronym, FOMO. Have you heard that used as like a word? Yeah, FOMO. But it's, I've always, right, but that one I think is like more recent and recent enough that people still know that it's an acronym. Oh, I use that phrase. I used it on your sister a while back. She saw an amazing view of the northern lights. I remember telling her, man, I had so much FOMO when I saw that cause I love the northern lights, and we've seen a little bit in the past. But it's still my dream to actually see like a full spectacular view of it. And she saw a good one. So I remember that was the last time I legitimately used the word FOMO. Right, but you knew that it's an acronym, and I think most people when they use that quote unquote word that they know it's an acronym, right? YOLO, you only live once. That was another one I used today. -- There -- you go. See, but that one's still like acronym, so it'd be interesting to see if those Particular acronym word things stick around for another generation and then just people start using them as words and don't even realize that they were acronyms in the past. Well, one our kids use fairly often is lol. See, but I laugh out loud. I think that still, I don't know if they know it means laugh out loud, right? It's possible, -- I -- suppose. I told them like that means you guys, it's LOL laugh out loud, like lol. So I don't know, maybe they know it means laugh out loud, but they would argue that it doesn't mean LOL. Like I'd call it LOL, right. No, they say lol. Interesting. I have heard that before, but. Maybe that's another one that Has been used so frequently in the younger generations that they don't even realize that it was an acronym. And then the final one on the list that I did not know was an acronym, nor did I know what words comprised it, is taser. OK, let me try to guess. -- You'll never -- guess. Well, I'm on a roll tonight, getting everything right, so here we go, taser. Time Associated. Stops I wanna say aggression, but that's not how you spell a good taser. Time associated stops eager riots. OK, that's that I'm locking that in. That's my answer. OK, so you are a listener, think briefly on what you think the word taser is, what acronym. that it was generated from and using which words. We'll give you a second, cause you'll never guess, unless you know this, like it's not something that anyone would ever guess, I don't think. I hear that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The music, the theme music, yeah, there you go. Well, perhaps you can phone a friend. Maybe there's somebody that read a lot of books when they were younger, because taser stands for Thomas A. Swift Electric rifle. Oh, I was off, -- a little bit -- off, a little bit. Right. And the interesting thing about that is that Thomas A. Swift is not even a real person. And why is it named after him? Because he's the guy that all those books that were sort of in the same time period of Hardy Boys were written, was like the inventor. Extraordinaire. He would invent things and go on various adventures and things like that. Not in the Hardy Boy books, but in the same time period associated with sort of when those Hardy Boy books were. Written, they were, I think, bound in very similar fashion, very similar typography and things like that. Thomas Swift, Tom Swift, yeah. You don't know Tom Swift? I read Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. I didn't read Hardy Boy. We've tried to get our kids into it. They're not into the older ones, but. Uh, the Dollar Tree. Has A lot of Hardy Boy books for $1 or what's like $1.25 now or whatnot, but they're all modern, the kids enjoy those ones, because they're like playing baseball or video games or whatnot. But I can't get them into the original Hardy Boys. But maybe they'd like Thomas A. Swift. Oops, I doubt it though. Yep, or just Tom Swift. Apparently it was a TV show. Apparently they are. Trying to start up the series again as of 2019 with a Tom Swift Junior. So, -- but -- they're in the same format as Hardy Boys. Yeah, like if you picked up A Tom Swift book or Hardy Boy book, you I could tell the difference, but they're like the same size and shape, same binding, same sort of artwork and things like that that a Hardy Boys book would have. I wouldn't even notice. I'd look at that and think of Hardy Boys. Did you read them? Yeah, they were good. -- Did you read Hardy -- Boys? I read Hardy Boys. Did you read Nancy Drew? I was forced to. Did you read Bobbsey Twins? No, I didn't do Bobby Twins. I think my sister did Bobbsey Twins. Perhaps. That was my favorite. Indeed, I remember Tom Swift being sort of like a fun read, but it wasn't sort of like mysterious or anything. So I think I slightly preferred Hardy Boys because there's an element of mystery to it. Whereas like Tom Swift was like just building things and going on adventures. There wasn't really a lot of Intrigue in those particular stories. OK. So that is Taser is basically the Because he created a taser in his story. No, the guy that created the taser, I guess maybe was inspired by Tom Swift and named it after this fictional character. Wow, he really liked those books that much. I'm guessing here. I, I didn't actually check this. -- Let's -- find That's a real hardcore fan right there. The term was first created during the development of the first taser by inventor Jack Cover, and he basically named it after the fictional Tom Swift character of the books. But no reason why. He said it was inspired by the character from the series of the early 20th century adventure novels written by Victor Appleton, which I think was also a pen name, not the actual guy's name, similar to Tom Swift, a name named Victor Appleton. I see that one's made up though. I'm pretty sure that's a pen name. I like that one though. Like, uh, what's the other, other one that's a famous pen name. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn. This is the guy that wrote this. -- I'm -- looking -- at -- you. Oh my goodness. Am I gonna have to Google this? Why did I not know? Mark Twain Mark Twain, right, -- that's -- not his real name. That's not his real name. It's like something Clement Clement or something, something Clement. Um, must be getting tired or old. I'm not remembering this. I think it's both. It's both, probably so. His real name Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens. So there you go. It's on the right track. So, those are some interesting words that have come about because of acronyms and now are so frequently used as words that maybe some people don't even know they were originally acronyms. Interesting. And who knows, maybe this is what Generated words in the past and we don't even know it. Podcast, right? A podcast isn't even a real word, right? Do you know what podcast stands for? It's casting to your iPod. It's a form of audio entertainment that you can use on your iPod. Huh? Well, how would it not be right? That's how pod came about is because Apple invented it. It was as part of the iPod. Right, iPod wasn't a thing. It was like a name. iPod. iPad iPhone. They don't like iWatch. You're not supposed to call it that. -- It's just -- watch. Why? I don't know. Apple Watch. Apple Watch. They don't, they don't call it the iWatch. They were very specific on that. It's true, you don't call it an Apple phone. It's an iPhone, iPod, iPad. iMac, but not an iWatch. I have no idea why. It's just a thing. I'm sure it was a very specific decision by Apple watch. No, I think he probably didn't want to call it iWatch. I don't know. I'm not sure the reasoning. Well, that'll be a future. Deep dive. I suppose so. What are you checking on? The words iPod and broadcast. So our podcast is a digital digital audio show. That you can download and stream over the internet. So pod comes from Apple's famous iPod, and cast comes from broadcast. I put right, that counts or does it not? Well, -- it's not -- an acronym per se. It's a A different thing that's happening to words that are mashed together and combined into new phrases. Which there's a word for that too, but we'll have to revisit that too. We have talked about that in previous episodes. I have no idea where, but. We have. All right, we'll look that up and we'll -- talk about that in the future -- too. Well, there you go. So if you know what it is called when two words become mashed together and reordered a bit to become a new word, or if you know the reason why the Apple Watch is not called the iWatch, you can always leave a comment, send us a text, send us an email. And perhaps share this episode with just one other person, and they can try to Come to a conclusion on any of these things that we've discussed or be informed about acronyms. Yeah, I, you know you're saying it in my head, I'm like, I wanna talk to somebody and sincerely say something about my iWatch and see their reaction. That sounds so off, that I feel like they would do a double take. I was like, oh, my iWatch is really. Uh, acting up today. I just, I feel like that's not a phrase I'd hear, but I'd never blink twice if someone said my iPhone. Precisely. So you can do that experiment and report back. Yeah. So, from your friends at I Hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.