PIN number

[zcater]

Personal Identification Number number is just wrong ;)

[denysvitali]

Thanks for opening this issue: I know it's "wrong", but it is common to say "PIN Number", at least in my latitudes.
What do you think about it? Should I change it?

[zcater]

I'm not a native English speaker but on the internet circles I play it's not seen very well.

[denysvitali]

Neither am I, but I know that some acronyms are used recursively (like ATM Machine, PIN Number, NFC Communication, ...)
I'll keep this open, hopefully a third person may give an advice on this: it is a nice language "bug" btw 😄

[silversquirl]

I'd change it to either "PIN code" or just "PIN". Technically speaking, "code" is redundant too (personal identification number code), but it's commonly used (moreso than "PIN number" in my experience) and, to me, sounds better.

[denysvitali]

PIN code sounds good! 👍

[denysvitali]

0cb748c fixes the issue, if you have something to add, feel free to comment here or open a new issue.

Have a wonderful day! 🚀

[Kadigan]

I would say that "PIN number", despite being silly, may have actual merit.

And isn't that ironic that I'm the one saying this. But - hear me out.

The acronym (and many others like it in frequent general use, like "ATM") functionally encroaches on the proper noun territory, despite technically not being one. Due to this "overuse", it becomes progressively opaque. This leads to a situation where the acronym is not expanded at all (because it doesn't seem like something that needs to be understood), necessitating a qualifier ("number"). And so, we get "ATM machines" and "PIN numbers".

It seems that frequently-used acronyms may be too optimised, and our "language processors" in our brains optimise the optimisation out to retain other qualities of speech and meaning. And despite the horror it may induce in some, I see this as language adaptation at work. Which is generally a good thing.

I don't care if you change it or not - just thought I'd share my thoughts.