Miles Gift ATDTDA (1) pg 23/24

[David Casseres]

On 1/29/07, Heikki Raudaskoski <hraudask at sun3.oulu.fi> wrote:
>
>
> Anyway, I thought I spotted a reference to W.A.S.T.E. when I was
> reading HP4:
>
> Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but
> all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W. "'Spew'?" said Harry,
> picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"
> "Not *spew*", said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W,
> stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."


Actually, acronym gags have been a staple of pop literature since long
before The Crying of Lot 49.  There was SMERSH in the James Bond novels, and
many others in junk that I've read and can't remember well enough to quote
(actually I'm too embarrassed by the junk I've read to be willing to quote
it.)  I'm sure someone could come up with a dozen pre-Pynchonian acronym
gags.  He was following examples, not the other way around.
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