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SOME ARBITRARY TERM

4/9/2018

2 Comments

 
Most people think that the letters in the SAT stand for "Scholastic Aptitude Test". While that it is indeed  what it was called when it first came out in 1926, the truth today is very different. You see, there was an error in its naming: the SAT does not actually measure aptitude, which is a natural ability. It's more of an assessment of learned abilities, so the College Board renamed the SAT to be the Scholastic Assessment Test in  1993, under mounting pressure. However, people hated the new name even more, because since "assessment" is just a word for "test", "Scholastic Test Test" is kind of redundant. Eventually, in 1997, the College Board just gave up, with one representative declaring that "the SAT has become the trademark; it doesn't stand for anything. The SAT is the SAT, and that's all it is." Basically, the three letters mean absolutely nothing, and if you're wondering why they didn't just make a new acronym, it's because changing the name would be "too confusing". Funnily enough, this type of development occurs relatively frequently. KFC used to be "Kentucky Fried Chicken" until fried foods got a bad rep in the '90s, when the company just dropped all meaning associated with the letters. The same is true for AT&T, AARP, ESPN, ACT (the SAT's sister test, ironically), and many others. 
2 Comments
Linda link
4/11/2018 08:08:47 pm

I came across your blog while looking for the etymology of "incensed." I've enjoyed browsing through the sections, and was delighted to find even <i>xkcd</i> tucked into the mix.

I've subscribed via RSS, and look forward to keeping up with your posts. I did notice your mention of Spanish as one of your languages, and thought I'd mention a site called <a href="https://wordconnections.wordpress.com/">Spanish-English Word Connections</a> to you. You might enjoy browsing there, too.

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Adam Aleksic link
4/11/2018 08:52:13 pm

Thank you for your interest and support! I think your blog is scintillating as well, and that Spanish website is pretty neat!

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    Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic, a senior studying government and linguistics at Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy trivia, politics, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, art history, and law. 
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