The Bungie Acronym Compendium
JNAMSTFY. DMUKYA. ABTFIPASO5. These cryptic identifiers have entertained, enightened, frustrated, and confounded Bungie fans since the early days in Chicago. Found on nearly every game and soundtrack created or licensed by Bungie, a surprising number of these enigmatic acronyms remain unsolved.
| Acronym | Game | Solution | Confirmed by: |
| DMUKYA | Marathon | Don't Make Us Kick Your Ass | |
| MBIBTYB | Marathon 2 | My Bob Is Bigger Than Your Bob | |
| TBWSAF | Marathon ∞ and Trilogy | Trick Bitch Whore Slut Ass Fucker | Alex Rosenberg |
| WACCSMD | Myth | Warcraft And Command & Conquer, Suck My Dick | Max Hoberman |
| MRTEFCFY | Myth Soundtrack | Michael Ryan, This Eleven Foot Cock's For You | Max |
| TATRTSTS | Myth II | Total Annihilation True Real Time Strategy Totally Sucks | Tuncer Deniz (below) |
| WUBNMH | Myth II Soundtrack | What's Up, Bitch? Not Much, Holmes | Matt Soell |
| SPMLOAS | Myth Total Codex | Steve Parson's Mom Likes Our Ass Sandwich | Max |
| YYMMDBATC | Myth TC Soundtrack | Yummy, Yummy, Munchy, Munchy, Dwarven Bones Are Tasty Crunchy | Max Hoberman |
| ABTFIPASO5 | Halo (GotY) | Arrr, Bitch! The Future Is Pimps At Sea '05! | Max |
| SABABWL | Halo Soundtrack, Halo 3 Beta | Shiny And Bumpy And Bursting With Love | Marty O'Donnell |
| ILWNL | Halo PC | | |
| JNAMSFTFY | Halo 2 | | |
| EGATFIBGBCSIMAW | Halo 2 Soundtrack Vol 1 | | |
| MNNGSBTFS | Halo 2 Soundtrack Vol 1 | | |
| IOHBOY | Halo 2 In-game map (Metropolis) | | |
| SIOHBOY | Halo 2 In-game credits | | |
| TOFTMTWCLMB | Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack | | |
| HAISTCWITDO | Halo 2 Soundtrack Vol 2 | | |
| BMDWATBATWMC | Halo Graphic Novel | | |
| DTARAGS | Halo 2 Vista | | |
| SLMCWMYOW | Halo 3 | | |
| JLTLEBLC | Halo 3 Limited Edition | | |
| WWYANOFAWD | Halo 3 Legendary Edition | | |
| TGAWAFAL | Halo 3 Soundtrack | | |
| ITIFGDM360 | Halo 3: ODST | | |
| ONSSFIH | Halo 3: ODST Soundtrack | | |
| BBBSLTPHSTBGF | Halo: Reach | | |
| TIMLAFAHS | Halo: Reach Soundtrack | | |
There have been tons of different guesses as to these on a variety of different forums all over the place, so if you see one you think you know the answer to, feel free to post a comment. Hopefully, someone at Bungie will step in periodically and let us know how we're doing.
Remember that, although some of them contain a little bit of good-natured profanity, they're not
all strings of foul language. Many of them are catchphrases heard around the Bungie offices during development of the related game.
Note: It's pretty obvious that EGATFIBGBCSIMAW refers to the skulls (Envy, Grunt Birthday Party, Assassins, Thunderstorm, Famine, I Would Of Been Your Daddy, Blind, Ghost, Black, Catch, Sputnik, Iron, Mystic, Anger) but since no one from Bungie has ever stepped in with any observations on the elusive W at the end, and public opinion is hardly conclusive, it's pretty pointless to keep throwing guesses about it around. Maybe somebody in the know would care to tell us a story? ;-)
Update
For the record, here are a few of the more widely-recognized guesses on some of the unsolved ones:
SPMLOAS: Single-Player Myth, Loads (or Lots) Of Additional Shit
ILWNL: I Like (or Love) Winning, Not Losing
IOHBOY: I'm Only Here Because Of You
SIOHBOY: Sid, I'm Only Here Because Of You
Anyone who can confirm or deny these is always welcome. :-)
Another Update
In the Halo 3 Beta, SABABWL is heard via Morse code, coming from the radio near the upper flag base on the map High Ground.
New Update!
Halo:Reach is upon us, with a new acronym, and a very plausible-sounding guess from old-school community stalwart Ross Mills, over on the
HBO forum: "Bye Bye Bungie, So Long To Project: Halo. Stuff's Totally Been Great Fun". As always, we appreciate any insight that benevolent patrons wish to make. ;-)
Newer Update!
What sounds like a perfectly reasonable guess for the Reach Soundtrack, found
over on the HBO Forum: "This Is My Last Absolutely F***ing Awesome Halo Soundtrack". Perhaps Marty will chime in somewhere on this?