11 words you probably didn't know were acronyms

We use acronyms all the time, and in some cases, we don't even realize we're using them.You may not know, for example, that Taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle."Other examples include "radar" and "snafu."Acronyms show up everywhere in our everyday language, from ASAP to BYOB, JFK to ROY G. BIV.But sometimes, an acronym is so natural-sounding that we forget it even stands for anything in the first place.That's certainly the case for Taserinvented in 1974, Taser stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle," an homage to a fictional character from the early 1900s. The word caught on and eventually gave us the verb "tase," meaning to fire a Taser at someone.Read on for 11 words most people have no idea actually stand for something.SEE ALSO:27 fascinating maps that show how Americans speak English differently across the USDON'T MISS:Here's what handwriting analysts say about the signatures of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and 13 more successful peopleLaser is an acronym describing how the technology works.Laser stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."Lasers were invented in 1960, but the first use of the term came one year earlier, when physicist Gordon Gould coined it for a paper about the technology.'Taser' comes from the name of a science-fiction book character.Tasers sound like an invention taken from science fiction, and as it turns out, the name of the device actually was.The weapon was invented in 1974 by NASA researcher Jack Cover, and when it was time to give his device a name, he found inspiration in Tom Swift, the title character from a series of adventure books about a teenage inventor from the early 1900s. In one of the books, Swift invented an "electric rifle" that could shoot bolts of electricity and was powerful enough to bring down an elephant.Cover did have to employ some creativity with the word "Taser"the books never actually reveal Tom Swift's middle name, but Cover added it to ease the pronunciation.The 'BASE' in BASE jumping describes the objects people jump from.For thrill-seekers, BASE jumping is one of the most adrenaline-filled activities out there."BASE" is an acronym describing the types of objects the risk-taking parachuters jump from: building, antenna, span (like a bridge or steel beam) and Earth (like a cliff).See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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