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Definition

What Does ‘Manila’ in Manila Folder Stand For?

January 23, 2009

Manila folders where originally constructed with the material known as Manila Hemp, a type of fiber that comes from the leaves of the abacá tree.  Manila Hemp gets its name from the capital of the Philippines, which happens to be one of the largest growers of the abacá tree.

[From Wikipedia]

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What Does WD-40 Stand For?

November 13, 2008

“WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. That’s the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion; a task which is done by displacing water. Norm’s persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.  Please see Our History for more information.”

[source]

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Running Defined

“Running is by definition the fastest means for an animal to move on foot.  It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time. It is a form of aerobic exercise.” [read more]

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Kinboshi

From wikipedia.org “Kinboshi, literally meaning gold star, is a term used in professional sumo wrestling to describe a maegashira victory over a yokozuna.” [read more]

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D-Day

From wikipedia.org “In English military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. Whilst the initial D in D-day stands for the word day it often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will or has occurred.” [...]

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What’s a Backronym?

“A backronym (or bacronym) is a phrase that is constructed “after the fact” from a previously existing word or abbreviation, the abbreviation being an initialism or an acronym. Backronyms may be invented with humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology.” [Wikipedia]

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What Does VHS Stand For (or, what is it?)

From wikipedia.org “There is a relatively popular belief that VHS officially stands for Video Home System. In fact it initially stood for Vertical Helical Scan, after the relative head/tape scan technique (making the popular version a backronym). Some early reports claim the name originally stood for Victor Helical Scan System. In the absence of an [...]

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TV Aspect Ratio

“HDTVs have an aspect ratio of 16:9, like a movie screen, while standard defintion television have an square shaped aspect ratio of 4:3.” [source]

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