What does WHARF mean?

I’m assuming that we all know what a WHARF is now, but do you know what it originally was and how the word came into being? Originally it wasn’t even a proper word, simply an acronym. Now I’m also pretty sure that you know that an acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words.
And such is WHARF! Which stands for: W..Whare, H..House, A.. At, R..River F..Front. So originally a wharf was not the place but a building or buildings at the one place on the river front. So what unusual acronyms do you know? And their meanings please?
One we had trouble with in South Africa many years ago when we arrived just before Christmas, was the Newspaper heading stating that SANTA workers were out on strike! No, not Santa’s helpers, but workers of the South African National Tuberculosis Association.
Another that used to crack me up was the SAPS. That is the South African Police Services.