All Day I Dream About Sports (Adidas backronym)

Adidas manufactures sports shoes and sports clothing. The company name is from its founder, Adolf Dassler. (“Adi” is a nickname for Adolf and “Das” is from “Dassler.”)

“Adidas” backronyms include “All Day I Dream About Sex,” “All Day I Dream About Soccer” and “All Day I Dream About Sport(s).” ” All Day I Dream About Sex” has been cited in print since at least 1980 and “All Day I Dream About Soccer” since at least 1988. The backronyms became very popular with Korn’s 1997 song “A.D.I.D.A.S.” (All Day I Dream About Sex).

[This entry was prepared with the research assistance of Bill Mullins, Neal Whitman, Garson O’Toole and Ben Zimmer of the American Dialect Society listserv.]

Wikipedia: Adidas
Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈadiˌdas]) is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures sports shoes, clothing and accessories based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company (including Ashworth), Rockport, and 9.1% of FC Bayern Munich. Besides sports footwear, Adidas also produces other products such as bags, shirts, watches, eyewear, and other sports- and clothing-related goods. Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Germany and Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world.

Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf Dassler, following the split of Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf later established Puma, which was the early rival of Adidas. Registered in 1949, Adidas and Puma are both currently based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
(...)
The brothers split up in 1947, with Rudi forming a new firm that he called Ruda – from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma, and Adi forming a company formally registered as Adidas AG from Adi Dassler on 18 August 1949. Although it is popularly claimed that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Soccer, that phrase is a backronym; the name is actually a portmanteau formed from “Adi” (a nickname for Adolf) and “Das” (from “Dassler”).

Google News Archive
30 September 1980, Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, “Newlyweds Cooking Up A Crock Of Pickles” by Alex Thien, pt. 3, pg. 1, col. 2:
JACK CUMMINGS reports that for a long time he thought Adidas meant a brand of jogging footwear, but his son, Jamie, 9, told him what it really means, to wit: All Day I Dream About Sex.

Google Books
Southwest Folklore
Volumes 4-5
1980
Pg. 79:
Adidas shoes became All day I dream about sex.

Old Fulton NY Post Cards
19 February 1986, Wilton (CT) Bulletin, “Runner’s Corner” Chips on Your Feet” by Ron Favier, pg. 3A, col. 1:
But their initials stand for: All Day I Dream About Sex.

28 April 1987, Dallas (TX) Morning News, pg. 1B:
“To me, it’s better to win and hurt a little, than lose and hurt a lot,’ says Crenshaw, who has written “all day I dream about state” vertically from each letter in the word Adidas on his cleats.

23 August 1988, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, pg. 4:
“It seems like I’ve always loved soccer,” she said. When she was 8 years old, Tina wrote a letter to adidas telling the company just how much. She wrote a letter using each of the letters to spell out a message: “All Day I Dream About Soccer.” “

16 May 1989, USA Today, pg. 1D
For instance, everywhere he goes, he asks kids if they know a double meaning for the sneaker name Adidas - and everywhere he goes, the kids know it means “All day I dream about sex.”

4 February 1993, The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH), “Humorous doc’s message to kids: AIDS is no joke” by Debbie Klinec, pg. B-1, col. 2:
Much to the surprise of parents, teen-agers everywhere apparently know that Adidas stands for All Day I Dream About Sex, according to the nationally-known AIDS lecturer.

OCLC WorldCat record
A.D.I.D.A.S.
Author: Korn.; Sony music entertainment international.; Sony music France.; Sony music entertainment inc. (États-Unis)
Publisher: Heemstede : Sony music entertainment international ; Paris : Distrib. Sony music France, 1997 (P)
Edition/Format: Music CD : CD audio : English
Other Titles:
ADIDAS
All day I dream about sex

Google Groups: alt.music.alternative
A.D.I.D.A.S. = All Day I DINK About Sex?
Katie Peterson
11/16/98
goddamn…quit trying to make up words and sit there and actually think about what you are saying…No…its not DINK…its all day i DREAM about sex…

OCLC WorldCat record
All day I dream about sport : the story of the Adidas brand
Author: Conrad Brunner
Publisher: London : Cyan, 2004.
Series: Great brand stories.
Edition/Format: Book : English

8 July 2005, Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), “So SHOE me!” by Samantha Critchell (AP), pg. D1, col. 2:
“All day I dream about sports,” could have been the mantra of this company’s founder. Too bad his brother didn’t agree.
adidas

OCLC WorldCat record
All day I dream about spittin : Adidas relaced
Author: Dj Rhettmatic.; Ras Kass
Publisher: [United States] : Ras Kass, 2010.
Edition/Format: Music CD : CD audio : Popular music : English

Google Books
Wavin’ Flag:
World Cup of Soccer Terror in Africa
By Martin Avery
Lulu.com
2010
Pg. ?:
The brothers split up. Rudi formed Ruda, later rebranded Puma, and Adi formed adidas. Legend has it the acronym stands for All Day I Dream About Soccer, but it really comes from ”Adi” (a nickname for Adolf) and ”Das” (from ”Dassler”) .

Google Books
THE INTER-MISSION:
Solitaire, Beer, & Heaven
By Jason Flick
Trafford Publishing (Trafford.com)
2013
Pg. 20:
ADIDAS? Some people say that it stands for “All Day I Dream About Supper.” Others say that it stands for “All Day I Dream About Sex.” I say that it stands for “All Day I Dream About Sleep.”

Twitter
Did you know?
‏@tdidyouknow
The brand named ADIDAS stands for “All Day I Dream About Sports”.
2:00 AM - 1 Apr 2014