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"PIN number" somehow seems to have infiltrated itself into
common usage, so even though it's technically wrong, it may
be one of those "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should"
things that will never go away, and since it has no other usage
going with the flow probably won't be fatal.
"SSN number," OTOH, in addition to its common Social
Security misusage, can also (correctly) refer to the registry
number of a US Navy nuclear attack submarine.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brasel, Russell" <russell -dot- brasel -at- hccredit -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 6:55 AM
Subject: Yet another nitpicky style question
Good morning, everyone!
I'm currently creating definitions for 650+ database attributes, and I
know someone down the road is going to say, "Hey, Writer! Shouldn't
this be 'PIN number,' not just 'PIN'?" The same scenario applies for
SSN. Both abbreviations appear frequently through the database, so I
need to defend myself. Am I being overly anal-retentive? After all,
Number is included in the abbreviation.
Or perhaps I need more coffee, which is an easily solved problem.
Russell Brasel
Technical Writer
Dent-A-Med, Inc. d/b/a The HELPCard
russell -dot- brasel -at- hccredit -dot- com
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com
