Paging George Brown

Dear George

I found your article at http://www.wes.org/ewenr/PF/05oct/pffeature.htm to be fascinating.

There is one point I would raise with you, however:

The first sentence states '...we use PIN numbers to access our accounts...'.

There is no such thing as a 'PIN number' or 'PIN numbers', only 'PIN' or 'PIN's'.

Regards

 

You mean the ones we use in the ATM machine? And VIN numbers, and UPC code, and the FMC Corporation and SRI Institute, and and and, and the nit harvest continues apace.

 

I have rarely seen a sillier, more time-wasting pick of nits around here.

"PIN" stands for "personal identification number." Your point, apparently, is that when a person says "PIN number," they're being redundant because the word "number" is already there, in the "N" of "PIN."

Technically, you're right; but the use of the phrase "PIN number," despite its redundancy, became part of the English lexicon long ago. There's not a thing wrong with expressing it that way. Moreover, I find it very odd that you would go so far out of your way to make such a point of that one, silly thing out of everything else George wrote in that article with which someone could either take issue, or about which s/he might have questions. How very odd.

You know, intsvc... your history of posts reveals your contempt for this place, and even some pro-millish tendancies. Posting here is a privilege, not a right. Stop being a thorn in DegreeInfo's side, or your login here is going to stop working. Count on it.

This, I believe, is the second time I've warned you. There won't be a third.

 

You are the second person to point the typo out. Yes, it is a mistake, and it just goes to show that I am imperfect, something I thought I would never say in my life

Cheers,

George