defac
n.— Note: “Defac” is far less often spelled “difac,” despite being a blend of “dining facility.” «Camp Phoenix in particular, was an example of where the disease began with food preparation and was passed out on cafeteria trays. Today every person who eats there washes with hot water before entering the chow hall or “defac” as it is called in the Army; short for dining facility.» —“Will Russia Repeat Horrors of Afghanistan in Georgia?” by Tim King Salem-News (Oregon) Aug. 10, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A retronym is a word coined to distinguish something new from an older, more generic version, such as electric guitar or clock radio. A couple of new retronyms are fine water, or “unprocessed water that reflects a region’s terroir” and water...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...
Thanks, Kortney, but this cite records the progression of the term away from the original acronym and towards a regular word.
Actually, the word isn’t defac; rather, it is the acronym DFAC, meaning Dining Facility. It is specifically an Army term. I, a Navy pilot, learned it while on an IA (Individual Augmentation) with the Army as a Civil Affairs officer.
Intersting. I guess I’ll have to look for it. I’m still in Iraq, and have yet to see it anywhere. Maybe when I get back to the States, I’ll run into it.