Re: Perl Etymology, a Recondite List

[revdiablo]

in reply to Perl Etymology, a Recondite List

There are the two traditional expansions

It's worth noting that these are retronyms backronyms. That is, they were coined after Perl was already named. I'm sure you already knew that, but some readers of this thread might not.

[jdporter]

The term I've heard for this is backronym.

[revdiablo]

Ah, yes. It seems retronym is a word, but the wrong one. From dictionary.com:

retronym, n.

A word or phrase created because an existing term that was once used alone needs to be distinguished from a term referring to a new development

Backronym is indeed the correct word here.

[Aristotle]

Note that Larry explains that “Perl” was intentionally meant to generate backronyms.