# PIN Number **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620 "2004-04-06T20:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/21 "2004-04-07T01:06:13Z")
How about, from the automotive world, a four door sedan. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/22 "2004-04-07T01:12:00Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Oh, there’s plenty in computing: > > GUI interface > > GPL licence > > Outdated, but DOS Operating System _still_ grates > > NTFS file system Don’t forget FAT table. But I confess, I don’t feel as strongly about these things as the others do… ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/23 "2004-04-07T01:36:19Z")
Personally, I hate it when people say “same difference” unless they are actually talking about comparing math problems. But I am weird. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/24 "2004-04-07T01:47:13Z")
The fact that the N in “PIN number” means “number” hasn’t the slightest bit of relevance to anything. The same for just about every example given here. It’s just pure anal retentiveness to even care about it, and if it annoys you, that’s **your** failing, not anyone elses. PIN Number ATM Machine ISBN Number, etc. Shouldn’t bother anyone who’s mentally stable. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/25 "2004-04-07T01:53:51Z")
I’m not _justifying_ the annoyance that these cause, I’m just stating that they _really really really annoy **me** _ PSU unit SUV vehicle CD disc ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/26 "2004-04-07T05:08:03Z")
At McMaster University, the Information Technology Centre (ITC) has recently expanded into more space and as such been renamed the Information Technology Building (ITB). The problem is, on all school documents, it appears they simply substituted the acronym “ITB” for “ITC” and so all references to the Information Technology Centre building have become references to the Information Technology Building building. Being such a recent change (2-3 years?) it still makes people laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/27 "2004-04-07T08:11:07Z")
Actually, what annoys me more is when all instances of an acronym in a document are follwed by a bracketed explanation of their meaning; “At the end of burning the CD, the TOC (Table Of Contents) will be written, in the case of multisession CDs, a new TOC (Table Of Contents) will be written at the end, superseding the previous TOC (Table Of Contents).” ---
**Author:** ![OM\_Waterfall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@OM\_Waterfall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OM_Waterfall)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/28 "2004-04-07T11:30:50Z")
There’s a show in the TV guide called “Good Sex”. I’m going to show my contempt by watching it repeatedly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/29 "2004-04-07T13:17:47Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Surely they’re Superfluous Unnecessary Tautologies? > 😃 SUT tautologies, for short. And they don’t bother me one bit. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/30 "2004-04-07T13:28:02Z")
> [@King Friday](#): > > That sort of explains how I’ve gotten over RBIs. I used to always say RsBI. But then I came to the conclusion that a run batted in is called an RBI because that’s what it’s called, not because of what it stands for. And, of course, “RBIs” is pronounced “Ribbies”. ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/31 "2004-04-07T13:47:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The fact that the N in “PIN number” means “number” hasn’t the slightest bit of relevance to anything. The same for just about every example given here. It’s just pure anal retentiveness to even care about it, and if it annoys you, that’s **your** failing, not anyone elses. > > PIN Number > ATM Machine > ISBN Number, etc. > > Shouldn’t bother anyone who’s mentally stable. But what do you call a machine that makes ATMs? (I never claimed to be mentally stable 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/32 "2004-04-07T14:06:06Z")
> [@EnginNerd](#): > > But what do you call a machine that makes ATMs? :head explodes: ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/33 "2004-04-07T14:13:01Z")
Along the lines of ATM machine, PIN number and the rest, my pet peeve is: HIV virus Apparently, it’s a virus that infects the human immunodeficiancy virus. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/34 "2004-04-07T14:20:02Z")
> [@TaxGuy](#): > > What about “SCUBA gear”? SCUBA stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, and “apparatus” means essentially the same thing as gear, so why doesn’t that one bother you? Probably because it’s just called scuba gear. Well, SCUBA can either be a noun or a verb. As for the noun, SCUBA basically refers to the apparatus that provides the diver with air at depth. That is, the tank, fittings, hose, regulator and mouthpiece. Additional SCUBA ‘gear’ could be the buoyancy compensator, knife, fins, boots, mask, weight belt, etc. So, the apparatus and the additional items are collectively the ‘gear’. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/35 "2004-04-07T15:57:04Z")
three letter acronyms are rather popular here and (AFAIK) ‘PIN number’ is the only one used this way. my take on it is that ‘PIN’ is a mono-syllable word (as opposed to ‘pee-i-and’) and it is easily mistaken/loss in conversation. ‘PIN number’, on the other hand, is unmistakable and convenient. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/36 "2004-04-07T16:26:02Z")
Speaking of SCUBA… how about **SNUBA**? What do those initials stand for? Nothing. “It’s just a cross between SCUBA and snorkel.” Grrr. Although at least the official company has the decency to not capitalize it. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/37 "2004-04-07T16:56:15Z")
> [@Slainte](#): > > A work-related redundancy: > > FOD damage > (FOD = Foreign Object Damage) > So you end up with “Foreign Object Damage damage.” > > Argh. I thought FOD stood for Foreign Objects and Debris, so FOD Damage would be perfectly acceptable. A moment of googling shows that there’s even [websites](http://www.fodnews.com/article0a.html) devoted to FOD. As I’m sure most fo you are scratching your heads, wondering what the heck FOD is, it’s a hazard at airports - something as small as a dropped screw can cause severe damage if it’s “ingested” by a jet engine - whether it damages the engine’s innards, or is shot out the back at high speed and hits another airplane or a person. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/38 "2004-04-08T19:30:48Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I thought FOD stood for Foreign Objects and Debris, so FOD Damage would be perfectly acceptable. I work at an airport, and I’ve always known the D in FOD to stand for damage or debris, whichever was more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/39 "2004-04-08T19:38:11Z")
LCD display. ---
**Author:** ![AntaresJB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AntaresJB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntaresJB)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620/40 "2004-04-08T23:13:46Z")
The big signs all over the outside of my dad’s bank declare the place to be “WNB Bank.” Yeah, guess what WNB stands for… Williamsport National Bank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pin-number/238620.md?page=3)