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# Are you suffering from RAS Syndrome?
- URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2018/05/are-you-suffering-from-ras-syndrome/
- Published: 2018-05-13T14:56:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-06-17T00:40:30.000Z
- Description: Know Your Acronyms
- Author: Justin Cox
- Tags: Craft, Life

While acronyms add a colloquial flair to writing, they are easy to misuse. If we’re not careful, improper acronym usage can cause immense reader pain. But before we go and diagnose the root cause of our reader’s discomfort, we need to set the record straight about something.

## Acronyms Vs. Initialisms

****Acronyms and Initialisms are different things.**

- An **acronym* is a new word made from letters of other words, pronounced as a complete word, e.g. “SCUBA” (pronounced **scu-ba* instead of being spelled out **s-c-u-b-a*)
- An **initialism* is an abbreviation made from letters of other words, pronounced as individual letters, e.g. “FBI” or “ATM”.

Writers often confuse “acronym” and “initialism” and use the terms interchangeably. While it is important to know the difference between the two, we have bigger issues to tackle today. For the purposes of this article, “acronym” will also refer to “initialism”.

With that out of the way, let’s make sure our writing never suffers from [RAS Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAS%5Fsyndrome?ref=justincox.com) again!

****RAS (Redundant Acronym Syndrome*) Syndrome** represents misused acronyms in writing. The name itself is indicative of the problem: “Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome” is not something anyone would say out loud. Yet writers often misuse acronyms this way.

## Common RAS Syndrome Examples

- ****ATM machine** or Automated Teller Machine machine
- ****PIN number** or Personal Identification Number number
- ****VIN number** or Vehicle Identification Number number
- ****SSN number** or Social Security Number number
- ****LCD display** or Liquid Crystal Display display
- ****HIV virus** or Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus
- ****CNN news** or Cable News Network news
- ****Please RSVP** or Please respond **s’il vous plait* (French for “please”)
- ****IRA Account** or Individual Retirement Account account
- ****FBI Investigation** or Federal Bureau of Investigation investigation

## Pluralized RAS Syndrome

In rare cases, RAS Syndrome extends to mis-pluralizing an acronym. This happens when pluralizing an acronym while the final expanded word does not have a plural form. For example, “Run Batted Ins” is improper, yet “RBIs” is a common usage.

## RAS Syndrome Test

RAS Syndrome is easy to prevent. ****Know what an acronym stands for before using it.** While acronyms are common, they are easy to use without knowing their meaning. As writers, we must only use an acronym if we understand what words it represents and can therefore avoid the pitfalls of misuse.

When writing an acronym, consider the unabbreviated words. If the sentence makes sense with the unabbreviated words, as well as the acronym, it is RAS-free. If the sentence has a redundancy, it’s suffering from RAS Syndrome and needs rewriting.

As a bonus, ProWritingAid’s [Cliches & Redundancies Report](https://prowritingaid.com/en/Analysis/WebEditor/Go?redirectToDocs=true&ref=justincox.com) will find most acronyms suffering from RAS Syndrome!

Were any of our RAS examples a surprise to you? Let us know in the comments below.

*A version of this article first appeared on [ProWiritingAid](https://prowritingaid.com/art/639/Know-Your-Acronyms-.aspx?ref=justincox.com).*