RAS syndrome
RAS syndrome stands for Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome and refers to the use of one of the words that make up an initialism or acronym as well as the abbreviation itself, thus in effect repeating that word. In itself it is an example of self-referential humor.
Technically, this redundancy is a form of rhetorical tautology, and in many cases a pleonasm.
Origin
The term "RAS syndrome" was coined in 2001 by the New Scientist magazine.[1] The term "PNS syndrome" (which expands to "PIN Number Syndrome syndrome," and further to "Personal Identification Number number syndrome syndrome") was coined by Usenet users,[2] and in fact pre-dates the coining of "RAS Syndrome".[3]
Other nonce coinages continue to arise. The terms themselves are occasionally referred to as "RAP phrases" ("Redundant Acronym Phrases phrases").[4] Some examples of RAP phrases include:
- ATM machine (Automated Teller Machine machine),
- HIV virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus),
- PIN number (Personal Identification Number number),
- ISBN number (International Standard Book Number number"),
- UPC code (Uniform Product Code code),
- DC Comics and EC Comics (Detective Comics Comics and Educational Comics Comics, respectively),
- Navy NCIS (Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Service).
Reasons for use
There are linguistic explanations for the prevalence of RAS syndrome. One is that acronyms (such as laser) are often treated as normal words (usually nouns) and not as shorthand for longer phrases. Also, the pure-logic ideal of zero redundancy is seldom maintained in human languages, because a limited amount of redundancy can improve (or seem to the speaker to improve) the effectiveness of communication. A phonetic example of that principle is the need for spelling alphabets in radiotelephony. At least some instances of RAS syndrome can be viewed as syntactic examples of the principle, especially in pedagogical contexts (whether formal or informal), where the speaker wishes to gently reinforce the meaning of an acronym or initialism. In such cases, the redundancy may help the listener by decreasing the 'alphabet-soup' quality of the communication.
Some occurrences are in the interest of another form of clarity: disambiguation (whereas the clarity discussed above was of a 'decryptifying' type). For example, when discussing a mainframe computer's requirements, the initialism "AC" might refer to air conditioning or alternating current depending on the context; the redundant phrase "AC current" is used by some to distinguish them, although the phrase "alternating current" is clear, correct, and not redundant. Also, the phrase "AC current" distinguishes from "AC voltage". The phrase "CSS style sheets" (Cascading Style Sheets style sheets) can also reduce ambiguity, where in certain contexts CSS could also refer to the content-scrambling system used on DVD video titles, or more commonly (as they both occur in discussion of client side web-development) cross-site scripting[dubious – discuss].
The redundancy in phrases such as "ATM machine" can be likened to that in "pine tree" or "panda bear". Such constructions are particularly prevalent in English.
In the United Kingdom, most companies have their electrical appliances regularly checked for safety. This process is known as Portable Appliance Testing. However, it is almost universally abbreviated to "PAT testing". Presumably this is to avoid confusion with PA testing, or simply because it sounds a little ambiguous to say that one's occupation is "PAT". Sometimes similar phrases are not actually redundant; for example, a "redundant RAID" may in fact be a backup RAID in the system being described.
Acronyms and initialisms from foreign languages are also often analyzed as un-expandable nouns when they are not translated. For example, in French, "le protocole IP" (the IP protocol) is often used, and "HIV" is usually said either "le VIH" (in French, adjectives usually come after nouns) or "le virus VIH".
Some speakers would prefer that the expansion of the acronym/initialism be used in situations where disambiguation or clarity is needed: "cascading style sheets" instead of "CSS style sheets", "alternating current" instead of "AC current", etc. However, some people may be more familiar with the acronym than the expansion, leading to potential for confusion.
Similar occurrences
RAS syndrome is a subtype of using an acronym in a way which would not be grammatically valid if the acronym was expanded; another type is, for example: "I have RTFM'ed, for half the morning, and the information is not there".
See also
References
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- ^ "Feedback" (fee required). No. 2285. New Scientist. 2001-04-07. p. 108. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ RAS syndrome newsgroup on Usenet (alternative free web access using Google Groups)
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/uk.net.news.config/msg/c47cc287ef8c6f33?dmode=source
- ^ Redundant Acronym Phrases – a collection of common examples of such phrases.