Episode 252 – Acronyms, Bacronyms and Questionable Etymologies

April 25, 2025

Episode Summary:

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.

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StS Episode 190: Vile Vans and Sinister Sedans: Vehicular Vernacular in Folklore-A

StS Episode 190: Vile Vans and Sinister Sedans: Vehicular Vernacular in Folklore-E

StS Episode 190: Vile Vans and Sinister Sedans: Vehicular Vernacular in Folklore-D

StS Episode 190: Vile Vans and Sinister Sedans: Vehicular Vernacular in Folklore-C

StS Episode 190: Vile Vans and Sinister Sedans: Vehicular Vernacular in Folklore-B

acronyms, bacronyms, etymologies, etymology, FUBAR, military, military terms, Mothman, OK, okay, public health, satan, Satanic Panic, SNAFU, SOS, Uncle Sam, viewer mail, words

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