From swear words to unclear titles, we count 14 embarrassing acronym fails.
14.
A lot of us can relate to times when we’ve had to deal with shady car mechanics.
Some may have flat out lied about what was wrong with our car, and some may have increased
the cost of repairs.
If you live near this service center in an unknown Asian country, be wary.
While the name, “Authorized Service Shop”, is normal, the acronym “ASS” isn’t.
Then again, let’s hope the acronym isn’t saying anything about the mechanics employed
or the service they provide.
13.
In these harsh economic times, many people need to be on government assistance.
This can include a food assistance program, which this particular Kentucky Fried Chicken
restaurant supports.
But when the sign maker decided to unnecessarily make “food assistance program” into the
acronym, “FAP”, it was the kind of fail that might make some people lose their appetites.
12.
A lot of people use subways and buses to get around every day.
Public transportation can sometimes be iffy, though, to the disappointment of many who
rely on it.
This sign with the acronym, “SCAT”, which stands for “Sarasota County Area Transit”,
hopefully doesn’t reflect on what their modes of transportation are really like.
11.
Like the first item on this list, this business has an unusual acronym that stands for a normal
business name.
But unlike the first item, this one was found in Philadelphia where most people speak English,
so it would make sense for the creators to know what the acronym “PHAG” sounds like.
It turns out this is a home décor and furnishings store.
Their website even says “phag” is a slang term that refers to an individual who proudly
thrives to thwart oppression and negative stereotypes.
What does that have to do with selling home décor and furnishings?
10.
Alright, in all fairness, this sign is in Spanish, so its acronym “SHIT” can be
forgiven.
While unclear, the sign appears to be for some kind of hotel service, so hopefully English-speaking
tourists won’t see it and be dissuaded from staying there.
This is assuming the place is indeed a shitty hotel.
9.
In emergencies it’s important to remain calm.
This sign does a great job of contradicting itself with the bad acronym of “PANIC”
while stating at the end to “remain calm”.
At least each letter stands for the proper ways to handle a fire emergency, though unless
you’re a firefighter or an investigator who cares about the possible causes?
Well, at least, when you need to concentrate more on getting out of the fiery building.
8.
Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of a series of words.
Some of you already know the definition of an acronym, but the creator of this one apparently
didn’t.
Here we see the word “SMART” which isn’t in itself bad, unless you look at the phrases
next to each letter.
This reads more like a bulleted list than an actual acronym.
They earn one point for saying that eating a salad is a smart choice.
7.
The Kelly Kirby Kindergarten Piano Method strives to introduce young children to music
by means of… well, a piano.
But this otherwise noble program probably raised a few eyebrows when the name was made
into the racist-sounding, “KKK” If you read the sign, the K’s are even in big boldface
type.
Obviously, the company wanted to get people’s attention.
They certainly got it!
6.
When it comes time to do some “Back to School” shopping, parents and kids might go to stores
that specialize in school clothes.
One of these stores is called “Just ‘F’ Kids”, or “JFK” for short, not that
its actual name is all that long.
Besides the questionable name “Just ‘F’ Kids”, the acronym that practically associates
an assassinated president’s initials with shopping for school clothes is just wrong.
5.
Yet another sign written in a foreign language with an English acronym.
This time, the language is French but the English word is “crap”.
It looks like this business has something to do with skiing, though most people probably
don’t think that way about the snow sport unless they wipeout or fall off the chairlift.
4.
One of the reasons people use acronyms is to easily remember certain facts.
An example is a student creating one to try and easily remember information for a test.
Well, this acronym wasn’t created to remember information for a test.
In fact, good luck remember any of what “ReINVEST” stands for, which is “Reducing Impulsivity
in Repeat Violent Offenders Using A Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.”
Whatever the hell that title means.
3.
“Women Take Flight” sounds like a mantra spoken during feminist meetings.
However, if they look at this particular hat and the acronym, “WTF”, their meeting
may take a dramatic turn.
It’s unclear where this hat was being sold or what the phrase was really supposed to
mean, especially since it’s giving mixed messages.
2.
Compared to the other acronym fails on this list, this one isn’t all that bad...
until you get to the last word in the title.
Here, a company is promoting their solar-powered pedestrian crosswalk.
The acronym, “HAWK”, stands for “High-intensity Activated Crosswalk”.
Apparently, they included the W and K in crosswalk.
The creators must have been desperate to have “HAWK” as their acronym.
But seriously, they could’ve used the C and spelled “H.A.W.C.”
It would look funny, but it would still be pronounced the same.
1.
Droughts can be rough, and it’s very important to conserve water the best you can.
That was what this sign was trying to tell people, when California was going through
one.
The idea of making “WATER” the acronym for a sign meant to tell people to conserve
water during a drought was clever, but the letters that make up an acronym should only
be made up of the first letter of each word in the phrase or title.
The A is part of a three-word phrase, while the TER is part of a single word!
This is also known as something
that is... not an acronym!