In the States, one of our over-the-counter painkillers is Tylenol (generic: acetaminophen). English-speaking countries oveseas refer to it as Paracetamol†.

Pharmacology books often refer to it as APAP… but I’ve never gotten a good explanation as to where the abbreviation APAP comes from.

Turns out, the full chemical formula for acetaminophen/paracetamol/tylenol is N-Acetyl-Para-AminoPhenol (APAP), or simply para-acetylaminophenol. Ready for some word magic?

PARA-aCETylAMinophenOL
para-ACETylAMINOPHENol
para-aceTYLaminophENOL

I’m as giddy and excited about this as I was when I found out what MaAlOx stood for. I’m sure absolutely nobody else cares… but if you’ve ever met me, you know it’s the small shit that gets me every time.

† They also have the metric system, and most of them don’t have a retarded monkey running the country… but that’s a different story for a different time.