APPALLING!

Acronyms are a special form of the lesser-known INITIALISMS. An initialism is any set of initials, such as BBC or USA, whilst an ACRONYM makes a recognized word which often comes to form a word in its own right. The division is blurry; RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) is an acronym whilst RSPCA, RNLI and RIP are not; RIP (Requiescat In Pace or Rest In Peace) makes a word but is always said 'R.I.P.'.

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1. People

YUPPIE - Young Upwardly-mobile Professional Person

YUMPIE - Young Upwardly-Mobile Person

GOLDIE - Golden Oldie, Lives Dangerously

DINKIE - Dual Income, No Kids

WOOPIE - Well-Off Older Person

SITCOM - Single Income, Two Children, Outrageous Mortgage

SINBAD - Single Income, No Boyfriend, Absolutely Desperate

BOBO - Burnt Out But Opulent

NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard

GROLIES - Guardian Reader Of Limited Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt

WOMBAT - Waste Of Money, Brains And Time

LONOTE - Lights On, No-One TherE

TWOSER - Total Waste Of Space

GADLAFTAC - Gates Are Down, Lights Are Flashing, Train 'Aint Coming

2. Computers

ISDN - It Still Does Nothing

APPLE - Arrogance Produces Profit-Losing Entity

DOS - Defective Operating System

BASIC - Bill's Attempt to Seize Industry Control

IBM - I Blame Microsoft

CD-ROM - Consumer Device - Rendered Obsolete Monthly

WWW - World Wide Wait

MACINTOSH - Most Applications Crash; If Not, The Operating System Hangs

PENTIUM - Produces Erroneous Numbers Through Incorrect Understanding of Math

COBOL - Completely Obsolete Business Oriented Language

WINDOWS - Will Install Needless Data On Whole System

MICROSOFT - Most Intelligent Customers Realize Our Software Only Fools Teenagers

3. Others

ACAS - Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service

ANZAC - Australia and New Zealand Army Corps

APPALLING - Acronym Production, Particularly At Lavish Level, Is No Good

ASH - Action on Smoking and Health

AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave

BURMA - Be Upstairs/Undressed Ready My Angel

DERV - Diesel-Engined Road Vehicle

ERNIE - Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment

ENSA - Entertainments National Service Organization (Every Night Something Awful)

FIFO/LIFO - First In First Out/Last In First Out

FOREST - Freedom Of the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco

GESTAPO - GEheime STAatsPOlizei (= Secret State Police)

ITALY - I Treasure And Love You

LASER - Light Amplified by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation

MASH - Mobile Army Service Hospital

NAFTA - North American Free Trade Organization

NAAFI - Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NORWICH - (K)Nickers Off Ready When I Come Home

OFSTED - OFfice for STandards in EDucation (Oh F***, Stupid Thickies Entering Door)

QANTAS - Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service (Queer And Nasty, Try Another Service)

RADAR - RADio And Ranging

SABENA - Societe Anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aerienne (Such A Bloody Experience, Never Again!)

SCUBA - Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

SNAFU - Situation Normal, All Fouled Up

SWALK - Sealed With A Loving Kiss

TARDIS - Time And Relative Dimensions In Space

WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

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