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A person is said to "suffer" from RAS syndrome when they redundantly use one or more of the words that make up an acronym or initialism with the abbreviation itself. Usage commentators consider such redundant acronyms poor style that is best avoided in writing, especially in a formal context, though
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virus' are all technically redundant because the second word is already contained in the preceding abbreviation, but only the ultra-finicky would deplore them. Similarly, in 'Wipe that smile off your face' the last two words are tautological—there is no other place a smile could be—but the sentence
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used). For writing intended to persuade, impress, or avoid criticism, many usage guides advise writers to avoid pleonasm as much as possible, not because such usage is always wrong, but rather because most of one's audience may
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A limited amount of redundancy can improve the effectiveness of communication, either for the whole readership or at least to offer help to those readers who need it. A phonetic example of that principle is the need for
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is not parsed by the mind in most instances of real-world use (in many cases because the foreign word's meaning is not known anyway; in others simply because the usage is idiomatic).
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in radiotelephony. Some instances of RAS syndrome can be viewed as syntactic examples of the principle. The redundancy may help the listener by providing context and decreasing the "
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227:(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries" are two or more member states of OPEC, whereas "OPEC" by itself denotes the overall organization.
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in conjunction with the abbreviated form. This means, in effect, repeating one or more words from the acronym. For example:
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Although there are many instances in editing where removal of redundancy improves clarity, the pure-logic ideal of
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says: "Not all repetition is bad. It can be used for effect ..., or for clarity, or in deference to
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Sometimes the presence of repeated words does not result in a redundant phrase. For example, "
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169:" (roughly "please respond please") is very common. This occurs for the same
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when they are not translated. For example, in French, "le protocole IP" (the
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they are common in speech. The degree to which there is a need to avoid
385:"On Semantic Pleonasms in English and their Translation in Lithuanian"
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overabundance of abbreviations and acronyms) of the communication.
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44:) is the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an
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Acronyms from foreign languages are often treated as unanalyzed
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such as redundant acronyms depends on one's balance point of
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Clothier, Gary (November 8, 2006). "Ask Mr. Know-It-All".
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55:(expanding to personal identification number number) and
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Authority in
Language: Investigating Standard English
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redundancy is seldom maintained in human languages.
543:"RAS Syndrome: Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome"
346:The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style.
237:Pleonasm § Bilingual tautological expressions
62:(expanding to automated teller machine machine).
635:"15 Redundant Words That Make You Sound Ignorant"
25:"ATM machine" is a common example of RAS syndrome
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482:"Why The DC Comics Name Actually Makes No Sense"
165:protocol) is often used, and in English "please
69:was coined in 2001 in a light-hearted column in
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456:"LINGUIST List 4.532: Last Posting: Acronyms"
348:Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
316:. No. 2285. April 7, 2001. p. 108.
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383:KasperaviÄŤienÄ—, RamunÄ— (December 12, 2011).
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16:Acronym redundantly coupled with its word(s)
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358:Milroy, James; Milroy, Lesley (1999).
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202:(human immunodeficiency virus) virus
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605:"Do You Suffer From RAS Syndrome?"
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458:. Linguistlist.org. July 7, 1993.
320:from the original on June 21, 2015
40:(making the phrase "RAS syndrome"
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641:. August 16, 2018. Archived from
603:Memmott, Mark (January 6, 2015).
189:Examples of RAS phrases include:
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512:"What Does DC Comics Stand For?"
208:(liquid-crystal display) display
175:many toponyms to be tautological
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138:would not stand without them."
578:Common Errors in English Usage
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214:(universal product code) code
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85:(ideas about how language
38:redundant acronym syndrome
283:"Sushi by any other name"
196:(Detective Comics Comics)
105:that it is always wrong.
402:10.5755/j01.sal.0.19.942
389:Studies About Languages
93:(the realities of how
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697:Linguistic morphology
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541:Nordquist, Richard.
362:. Psychology Press.
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173:reasons that cause
144:spelling alphabets
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645:on August 2, 2020
369:978-0-415-17412-1
268:The York Dispatch
242:Recursive acronym
163:Internet Protocol
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675:RAS syndrome
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516:Screen Rant
486:Screen Rant
324:December 8,
119:Bill Bryson
109:Linguistics
42:autological
36:stands for
686:Categories
305:"Feedback"
253:References
171:linguistic
717:Word play
707:Semantics
649:March 30,
547:ThoughtCo
526:April 29,
496:April 28,
411:2029-7203
344:. (2000)
247:Tautology
194:DC Comics
179:tautology
159:morphemes
79:pleonasms
65:The term
702:Rhetoric
692:Acronyms
613:Archived
582:Archived
551:Archived
520:Archived
490:Archived
460:Archived
430:(2002).
318:Archived
231:See also
185:Examples
32:, where
609:NPR.org
466:May 22,
152:cryptic
103:believe
60:machine
46:acronym
712:Syntax
639:rd.com
588:May 1,
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177:. The
87:should
53:number
123:idiom
651:2022
621:2019
590:2012
559:2019
528:2021
498:2021
468:2009
436:ISBN
407:ISSN
364:ISBN
326:2006
225:OPEC
167:RSVP
131:SALT
127:OPEC
115:zero
397:doi
212:UPC
206:LCD
200:HIV
135:HIV
125:. '
58:ATM
51:PIN
34:RAS
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
