Saturday, March 17, 2012
Two-way redundant acronym
Grammar freaks often bitch about redundant acronyms, where the word you say after the acronym is also the last word inside the acronym.
A few examples among many:
ATM machine = Automatic Teller Machine machine
PIN number = Personal Identification Number number
RAM memory = Random-Access Memory memory
CD disk = Compact Disk disk
GIF format = Graphics Interchange Format format
ISBN number = International Standard Book Number number
UNFCCC Climate Change Secretariat = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Climate Change Secretariat
Triple-A Auto Club = AAA Auto Club = American Automobile Association Auto Club
The bitching of the grammarrhoids is stupid because people are fully capable of deciding whether a word is redundant. In the above cases the last word needs to be explicit because the acronym no longer represents separate words; it's simply an adjective or descriptor. When you talk about a CD disk, you're not thinking Compact Disk disk, you're only distinguishing a CD disk from a DVD disk or a floppy disk or a USB disk. All four of those descriptors fit into the same mental slot :) though CD and DVD are redundant acronyms, floppy is a plain word, and USB is a non-redundant acronym in this context.
= = = = =
Today I heard the first two-sided redundant acronym, which is also the first fully redundant acronym:
"Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network cancels Rosie's show."
Expanded:
Oprah Winfrey's {Oprah Winfrey's Network} Network cancels Rosie's show.
In this case the grammarrhoid bitching is probably right, since OWN is still felt to mean Oprah Winfrey's Network, if anyone even thinks about it at all.
A few examples among many:
ATM machine = Automatic Teller Machine machine
PIN number = Personal Identification Number number
RAM memory = Random-Access Memory memory
CD disk = Compact Disk disk
GIF format = Graphics Interchange Format format
ISBN number = International Standard Book Number number
UNFCCC Climate Change Secretariat = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Climate Change Secretariat
Triple-A Auto Club = AAA Auto Club = American Automobile Association Auto Club
The bitching of the grammarrhoids is stupid because people are fully capable of deciding whether a word is redundant. In the above cases the last word needs to be explicit because the acronym no longer represents separate words; it's simply an adjective or descriptor. When you talk about a CD disk, you're not thinking Compact Disk disk, you're only distinguishing a CD disk from a DVD disk or a floppy disk or a USB disk. All four of those descriptors fit into the same mental slot :) though CD and DVD are redundant acronyms, floppy is a plain word, and USB is a non-redundant acronym in this context.
= = = = =
Today I heard the first two-sided redundant acronym, which is also the first fully redundant acronym:
"Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network cancels Rosie's show."
Expanded:
Oprah Winfrey's {Oprah Winfrey's Network} Network cancels Rosie's show.
In this case the grammarrhoid bitching is probably right, since OWN is still felt to mean Oprah Winfrey's Network, if anyone even thinks about it at all.
Labels: Language update
¶ 11:05 AM
