Backronym - writercize #88

Most writers and news followers are familiar with acronyms - words or widely recognized initials created from the first initial of each component of a name or phrase.  Some examples include FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), HOMES (a way to remember the great lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior), AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).  A few common words are actually acronyms as well: LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) and RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) among them. 

You may not be as familiar with backronyms, a word which I mistakenly thought I created until I looked it up.  It's not in Webster, but it is already on wikipedia and urban dictionary and was added to dictionary.com in June 2005.  Too obvious to be a novel idea, I suppose.  A backronym is a concept you are likely familiar with, but haven't previously identified.  It's taking the letters of a word and working them into a memorable sentence to describe or explain the word, or make a pun.  Some examples include Delta Airlines (Don't Even Leave The Airport) or NESW (Never Eat Shredded Wheat - to remember the directions on a compass).  From wikipedia, I learned that backronyms are often used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA - an acronym) as teaching tools.  For example, DENIAL is "don't even notice I am lying."

writing exercise:  Write a backronym (or two) for your first name.

Click "read more" for the writercizer sample response on Alana.  (It's a harder exercise than it sounds!)

writercizer response:

ALANA:  Actively Looks At Noteworthy Articles
ALANA:  A Little Artsy Nutty Animal
ALANA:  Awfully Literal.  Always Notices Anomalies.