Special Sub-Topic: A to Z Acronyms Click Here To Play: A to Z Acronyms

What two countries are referenced in the acronym ANZAC?

Australia and New Zealand. The acronym stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day is celebrated every 25th of April to commemorate the joint efforts of both countries during The Great War. (And by the way, neither Newport nor Africa are countries!)

Where would one be likely purchase a BMW?

Car lot. Known in its native tongue as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, we know this automobile manufacturer as Bavarian Motor Works. BMW remains one of the world's largest manufacturers of luxury cars and is well branded with a sleek logo that represents an airplane propeller, because the company started out making parts for airplane engines

Graphic artists and printers often refer to the colour model known as CMYK. The name of what colour is NOT found in this acronym?

Blue. CMYK refers to cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This combination accounts for millions of colours (though not all) and was considered the staple of offset printing before the advent of colour laser printers.

In the United States, a potent government group dedicated to the enforcement of laws related to controlled substances is the DEA. For what does the "A" stand in this acronym?

Administration. Created by Executive Order of President Nixon in 1973, this unified government group was dubbed the Drug Enforcement Administration. In its first two years of operation the DEA's budget grew from $75 million to $140 million. Its rich history of success was established over several decades through the enforcement of national drug policies domestically and abroad. Many know the celebrated case of Elvis Presley being awarded an Honourary DEA Agent by President Nixon. Ironic that narcotics would play such a large role in The King's death a few years later.

The famed Walt Disney dreamed of a utopian city that he entitled EPCOT. What "E" word completes the acronym of ________________ Prototype Community Of Tomorrow?

Experimental. Interestingly, Disney's vision was for a planned and controlled community that would have housed up to twenty thousand people and seeded his plans for the "Tomorrowland" exhibits. Epcot opened in October, 1982 some sixteen years after Disney's death.

For what profession is the acronym FORTRAN of significance?

Computer programmer. FORTRAN (or Fortran) is the blended word for "Formula Translating System" and is a programming language. A project of IBM (another acronym!) it took root in 1954 as a quest to prepare scientific problems for the computer giant's next machine. Fortran is an automatic coding system that is both a language and a translator.

Many people use GPS technology as a navigation tool. What is the "G" in GPS?

Global. Designed in the 1960's, the Global Positioning System revolutionized navigation for the United States military as the armed forces circled the globe. It has been touted as giving every meter on the planet Earth a "unique address". In its most basic form it uses satellites and corresponding ground stations to map the globe.

A student of geography might use the acronym HOMES as a device to remember what?

The Great Lakes. HOMES is an acronym used to remember the five Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S. - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. The lake system is connected by the St. Lawrence River to The Atlantic Ocean. Formed by glaciers, the five lakes are the largest freshwater lake system on the globe. Sadly the system has been steadily polluted by dioxins, mercury and PCBs, causing mass beach closings for the forty million people living in the Great Lakes Basin.

What food is a hungry diner likely to order off the menu at IHOP?

Pancakes. IHOP is short for the International House of Pancakes. This iconic American restaurant was actually founded in 1958. The acronym IHOP was the product of a successful marketing campaign in 1973.

What country lends its name to the electronics giant JVC?

Japan. Known officially as the Victor Company of Japan, Ltd., JVC is an electronics heavyweight internationally. JVC invented the VHS format for video recorders and pitted itself against SONY in the 1970's with their "Betamax" product line. There is no question which product prevailed.

What did the acronym K.I.T.T. stand for in the original "Knight Rider" series?

Knight Industries Two Thousand. Voiced by actor William Daniels (of "St. Elsewhere" and "Boy Meets World" fame), K.I.T.T. was a Pontiac Trans Am outfitted with artificial intelligence and a partner to the show's protagonist played by David Hasselhoff.

What word is common to both the acronyms LASER and LED?

Light. Created by physicist Gordon Gould, LASER is an abbreviated for for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. LEDs, or Light-Emitting Diodes, were introduced commercially in the late 1960's. They are made from an amalgam of semiconductors mainly composed of indium and gallium.

The acronym MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. True or False?

True. The very first MRI Exam on a human being was performed in 1977. MRIs use radio wave energy pulses to pinpoint internal tissues and organs. The result is a three dimensional model of specific parts of the body.

Of the following, which is the correct listing for the acronym NCIS?

Naval Criminal Investigative Service. NCIS, just like the television show with Mark Harmon as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The real NCIS was formed in the nineteenth century and took on the familiar moniker in 1966.

Everyone knows the cartel OPEC, right? Do you know what the letter "O' represents in this familiar acronym?

Organization. Now boasting twelve member countries, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began in 1960 with founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. An influential cartel since its inception, OPEC's influence may be waning in the face of international climate change negotiations in recent years. Hey, for the record I thought the "O" stood for OIL for the longest time, too!

When filling up the tires on one's car with air, which measurement acronym would be of interest?

PSI. PSI, or Pounds per Square Inch, is a unit of measure that indicates the pressure on a surface. Interestingly, the correct unit of measurement for reading a tire pressure is PSIG, or Pounds per Square Inch Gauge.

Which of the following acronyms represents Australia's largest airline?

QANTAS. Did you know that QANTAS is the acronym for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services"? Next to KLM it is the second oldest airline in the world. The airline began its operations in the 1920's out of a desire to link Darwin and Brisbane by air; it commenced its operations with air taxi flights and joyrides! Most airlines elected to cut the scene (for their in-flight movie) in the airport where Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rain Man" comments that "QANTAS has never crashed".

What language is the origin of the acronym R.S.V.P, literally translated as "respond if you please"?

French. The acronym is from the French derivative "Répondez s'il vous plaît." The acronym has morphed in the English lexicon to the status of a verb: some say "Have you R.S.V.P.ed to that wedding invitation, yet?"

The navigation tool Sonar is an acronym. What word correctly fills in the blank for Sonar - sound navigation and ______________ ?

Ranging. Active sonar sends out the familiar "ping" sound heard in submarine movies. When the "ping" hits something in the water some of the energy gets reflected back to the receiver and one can judge the distance and speed of an object. Passive sonar involves listening to the distinct sounds that emanate from objects like a ship to gauge its distance.

In boxing or mixed martial arts what word separates the acronyms KO and TKO?

Technical. KO stands for Knock Out whereby TKO is for Technical Knock Out. A knockout occurs when a fighter is knocked down by an opponent and does not get to his/her feet within ten seconds (as determined by the referee). The subtle distinction with a TKO is that it is a judgment call. Either the ring official, the individual fighter (or his/her crew) or a doctor can deem the participant unable to continue.

What classification of people is found in the acronym UNICEF?

Children. Founded in the post-WWII era by the United Nations, UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. It gained status as a permanent agency of the UN in 1953 but, interestingly, shortened the name to United Nations Children's Fund. In 1988 UNICEF appointed actress Audrey Hepburn as its official spokeswoman.

Which Christian movement is referenced in the acronym WASP?

Protestant. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant is commonly abbreviated to the acronym WASP. Alternatively WASP can stand for "Wealthy Anglo-Saxon Protestant".

One of the few acronyms in popular culture that includes the twenty-fourth letter of the alphabet is BMX. What does this sports-related acronym stand for?

Bicycle Motocross. The sport had humble origins in the 1970's with the youth from The Golden State riding their modified 20' Schwinn Stingray bicycles. The virgin sport gained nationwide popularity when it was shown in the opening scenes of the film "On Any Sunday", a flick about motorcycle racing. By 1983 BMX racing was hitting its stride and the next generation of riding - BMX freestyle -was taking hold. In 2008 it was introduced as an Olympic sport category in Beijing.

What does the letter "U" typically stand for in the acronym Yuppie?

Urban. Yuppies are "young urban professionals", also "young upwardly mobile professionals". They were once described as the former Hippies of the 60's who abandoned their counterculture beliefs in favour of white collar positions in corporate America. Waiting until later in life to have children they preferred to spend their disposable income on themselves. Thus they were dubbed Yuppies by the press for being "professional and young urbanites".

The United States post office uses a five digit scheme to individual delivery stations in metropolitan areas called a ZIP Code. What does the "Z" stand for in this acronym?

Zone. The acronym ZIP represents the words Zone Improvement Plan. To encourage citizens to use Zip Codes in all of their mailings the U.S. Post Office created the animated character "Mr. Zip" in the 1960's. The genesis of the character and its incarnations can be found on the Wikipedia website.