RAS syndrome

English

Etymology

Coined in 2001 by New Scientist magazine.[1]

Noun
Examples

PIN number – personal identification number
HIV virus – human immunodeficiency virus
ATM machine – automated teller machine

RAS syndrome (uncountable)

  1. (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

References
  1. “Feedback”, in New Scientist‎, 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.
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