Funny | Random | Wordplay | Pet Peeves

Does It Annoy You When People Expand One of the Letters in an Acronym?

There’s a name for it: RAS syndrome

Two examples of RAS syndrome. Image created by the author using Image Creator from Microsoft Bing. The text was modified slightly using Affinity Photo

When I worked for an electronics company, it annoyed me when colleagues said things like ‘LCD display’ or ‘ISBN number’.

When expanded, all these terms repeat themselves:

• LCD display — Liquid Crystal Display display
• PCB board — Printed Circuit Board board
• ISBN number — International Standard Book Number number
• UPC code — Universal Product Code code
• USB bus — Universal Serial Bus bus

Someone came up with a name for this

• RAS syndrome — Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome

According to Wikipedia, the term RAS syndrome was coined in 2001 in a light-hearted column in New Scientist.

More examples

It’s surprisingly common! And in some cases (e.g. ETA), it’s not the last letter that gets repeated.

• ATM machine — Automated Teller Machine machine
• CMS system — Content Management System system