# Please share your redundonyms! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665 "2007-02-18T01:28:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_says](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@John\_says](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_says)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/1 "2007-02-18T01:28:45Z")
I am pleased to finally post (split infinitives and all) on the SDMB after some years of obsessive, voyeuristic lurking. **Teeming millions, bastions of etymology, curators emeritus of the collective lexicon, lend me your redundonyms!** ATM Machine PIN Number They strike the ears oddly leave them chafed. LCD Display NIC Card New technology creates more of them all the time. We may not be able to end the nightmare of redundant phrases based on acronym ignorance, but if we work together, we can give the beast a common name. I call them redundonyms–and I have begun the long belated task of rounding them up. Please help fight this battle. Share the redundonyms that you’ve encountered. It won’t be pretty, but if we work together we can beat acronym ignorance. Perhaps, someday, the redundonym will die with it. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundonym](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundonym) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/2 "2007-02-18T01:34:41Z")
CAC Card - Common Access Card, used for accessing many government computer systems. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/3 "2007-02-18T01:37:11Z")
Well, you’ve already named my pet peeves, so I can’t add much to your noble effort. Maybe SSN Number ISBN Number UPC Code APO Office ISP Provider ELO Orchestra MLB Baseball ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/4 "2007-02-18T01:40:17Z")
And of course, the FAT Table. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/5 "2007-02-18T01:40:52Z")
The DSW shoe warehouse (it’s even on their signs). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/6 "2007-02-18T01:42:35Z")
Must the last letter of the acronym be the first letter of the appended word? I’m trying to think of a phrase where the rule doesn’t apply. I thought of _CBS network,_ but since CBS doesn’t actually stand for anything anymore\*, I don’t think that counts. \*It used to be the _Columbia Broadcasting System_, and a broadcasting system is sort of the same thing as a network…right?..no?) ---
**Author:** ![John\_says](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@John\_says](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_says)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/7 "2007-02-18T01:55:57Z")
Thanks all for the replys so far! I _knew_ this was the place to go! [QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Must the last letter of the acronym be the first letter of the appended word? [/quote] That issue arose while talking to a friend. His suggestion was vetoed on another count, but I’m with you–we’ll break the rule when we find a valid exception. [QUOTE=Doug] since CBS doesn’t actually stand for anything anymore\*, I don’t think that counts. [/QUOTE] The wiki article has a section for obsolete redundonyms to handle acronyms like DVD which now officially stand for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/8 "2007-02-18T02:21:34Z")
Thought of another one: what if the appended word isn’t _last_ in the acronym? HWI Hardware was originally a company called Hardware Industries. ---
**Author:** ![John\_says](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3e96dc/32.png) [@John\_says](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_says)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/9 "2007-02-18T02:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Thought of another one: what if the appended word isn’t _last_ in the acronym? HWI Hardware was originally a company called Hardware Industries. [/QUOTE] That kind of falls along the same lines as my friend’s suggestion, pdf document (portable document format). I personally don’t thing either qualify because although they have repeated words, the fact that the repeated word occurs first as an adjective and then as a noun really prevents them from being technically redundant. By the way, have to give Randy a pat on the back for DSW Shoe Warehouse (Designer Shoe Warehouse). It’s _double_ and, as he said, and is often incorperated in their sign. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/10 "2007-02-18T02:34:59Z")
RAID Array (Bonus points because the R stands for ‘redundant’) A double: OFF File Format (Object File Format File Format) Also, a lecturer of mine apparently once heard “Central CPU Unit”. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/11 "2007-02-18T03:41:54Z")
GSD Dog ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/12 "2007-02-18T03:53:05Z")
I don’t know if this usage is limited solely to my workplace, or if other places that have such a system do the same, but: OES (Order Entry System) System ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/13 "2007-02-18T04:49:05Z")
NAFTA Agreement (North American Free Trade Agreement Agreement) Cite from, of all sources, [Wikipedia](http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XgR9MmILY4QJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement+%22NAFTA+Agreement%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us) In the Obsolete Redundonym Category: AT&T telephone (“AT&T” no longer officially stands for anything, but was once short for American Telegraph & Telephone) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/14 "2007-02-18T05:51:17Z")
In Canada, “SIN Number”. There’s a comany around here which puts the following on their trucks: “Gordon Food Services (A GFS Holdings Company)”. Can we have a category for companies who create transparently-initialled subsidiaries or supersidiaries? ---
**Author:** ![daere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@daere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daere)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/15 "2007-02-18T09:25:03Z")
I used to work for a mutual fund company that used an “IRA Account Application.” In this company, “IRA” was defined “Individual Retirement Account” – so it was an “Individual Retirement Account Account Application.” In my department’s communications, we called it “IRA Application,” but it’s kinda hard to be right when the redundancy is printed _on the application_. (Warding off the inevitable… IRA is sometimes defined as “Individual Retirement Agreement” – which would make it non-redundant. But, our specific company’s agreed-upon definition was “Individual Retirement Account.”) Regarding “pdf” – the redundancy I often slip and use is “pdf format” (or portable document format format). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/16 "2007-02-18T09:37:39Z")
I’ve mentioned this before. In Ireland is the Allied Irish Bank - known as AIB. Their branches display the title “AIB Bank”. Their ATM machines (!) are called "Banklink"s. Above the ATM are the words: “AIB Bank Banklink”, or in other words: Allied Irish Bank Bank Banklink. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/17 "2007-02-18T10:09:18Z")
HIV virus. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/18 "2007-02-18T16:11:08Z")
One occasionally hears “NDP Party.” Not from _us_, of course (unless someone has organized a social). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/19 "2007-02-18T17:00:54Z")
APL Programming Language ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-share-your-redundonyms/392665/20 "2007-02-18T17:02:35Z")
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