RAS syndrome
English
editEtymology
editCoined in 2001 by New Scientist magazine.[1]
Noun
editExamples |
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PIN number – personal identification number |
- (lexicography, humorous) redundant acronym syndrome syndrome: a tautology in which one or more words that make up an acronym or initialism are used redundantly in conjunction with said abbreviation.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ “Feedback”, in New Scientist[1], 2001 April 7, archived from the original on 9 March 2016:
- A couple of weeks ago we reported on Microsoft’s “NT technology”, which we wrongly assumed meant “New Technology technology”. Our thanks to reader Iain Broadfoot, who points out that it actually means “Northern Telecom technology”, after the people who originally developed it. But that hasn’t stopped reader Ernest Ager sending a string of examples of that must henceforth be known as RAS syndrome—where “RAS” stands for “redundant acronym…”—yes, you’ve guessed the rest.