backronym

The treatment of a word as an acronym even though it is not. For example, ping is a utility used to test a path from one host computer to another across an IP-based network in what is essentially a command to echo the packet from the remote host computer back to the originating host. Ping is a word, not an acronym. However, Dr. David L. Mills reverse-engineered ping into an acronym for packet Internet groper and a great many people believe that was the original meaning. It was not. See also acronym, anacronym, and ping.