Editing Pleonasm (section)

===Acronyms and initialisms===

Acronyms and initialisms can also form the basis for redundancies; this is known humorously as [[RAS syndrome]] (for Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). In all the examples that follow, the word after the acronym repeats a word represented in the acronym. The full redundant phrase is stated in the parentheses that follow each example:
* "I forgot my '''PIN number''' for the '''ATM machine'''." ''(Personal Identification Number number; Automated Teller Machine machine)''
* "I upgraded the '''RAM memory''' of my computer." ''(Random Access Memory memory)''
* "She is infected with the '''HIV virus'''." ''(Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus)''
* "I have installed a '''CMS system''' on my server." ''(Content Management System system)''
* "The '''SI system''' of units is the modern form of the metric system." ''(International System system{{efn|'SI' is an [[initialism]] of ''Système international,'' which means 'International System' in [[French language|French]]. The phrase ''Système international'' is itself an abbreviated form of the full French name ''{{lang|fr|Système international d'unités}},''<ref name="SIBrochure9thEd">{{citation |title=The International System of Units (SI) |author=International Bureau of Weights and Measures |author-link=New SI |date=2019  |edition=9th |isbn=978-92-822-2272-0 |url=https://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si-brochure/SI-Brochure-9.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211018184555/https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/41483022/SI-Brochure-9.pdf/fcf090b2-04e6-88cc-1149-c3e029ad8232 |archive-date=18 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|165}} which means 'International System of Units'. The reason why the French initialism 'SI' is used in English is the 11th [[General Conference on Weights and Measures|CGPM]] (1960 General Conference on Weights and Measures), which stipulated that ''the international abbreviation of the name of the system is: SI.''<ref name="SIBrochure9thEd"/>{{rp|165}}}})''

(See [[RAS syndrome]] for many more examples.) The expansion of an acronym like PIN or HIV may be well known to English speakers, but the acronyms themselves have come to be treated as words, so little thought is given to what their expansion is (and "PIN" is also pronounced the same as the word "pin"; disambiguation is probably the source of "PIN number"; "SIN number" for "Social Insurance Number number" {{sic}} is a similar common phrase in Canada.) But redundant acronyms are more common with technical (e.g., computer) terms where well-informed speakers recognize the redundancy and consider it silly or ignorant, but mainstream users might not, since they may not be aware or certain of the full expansion of an acronym like "RAM".