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Episode 252 - Acronyms, Bacronyms and Questionable Etymologies
Episode 252

Episode 252 - Acronyms, Bacronyms and Questionable Etymologies

Squaring the Strange · Celestia Ward

April 26, 20251h 41m

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Show Notes

We start off with a first-ever viewer mail taste test! Then our standard report on the state of public health and government functionality (spoiler, it ain't great). Our main topic is acronyms and some specific word-based folklore. Is the term "OK" really the greatest word ever created? And how was it created? Then, whether it's linking a rock band to Satan or lambasting a large bureaucratic organization, false "bacronyms" are mini stories all unto themselves. Finally, there's maritime and military terms like SOS, FUBAR and SNAFU, as well as the possibly acronym-related origins of Uncle Sam.