English

Noun

BNF ‎(uncountable)

1. (computing) Backus-Naur form (originally Backus normal form).

   Could we write BNF for this instead of trying to describe it in text?

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of Big Name Fan.

Noun

BNF ‎(plural BNFs)

1. (fandom slang) A famous member of fandom; a celebrity fan.
   • 1950 October, Hoffman, Lee, “Chaos”, in Quandry, page 5:

     COMING NEXT ISH: A department devoted to the BNF of tomorrow. 'Twill be the neofan of today who is the Tucker or Laney of tomorrow. So QUANDRY, the BNZ of tomorrow, will bring you biografies^[sic] of lesser known fen.

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530567-8, page 17
• BNF n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project