Why do we say 'PIN number' which is 'Personal Identification Number number'?

Question

Just a thought for you

Answer 1

I think were just actually supposed to say like "My PIN is...." instead of "My PIN number is...." since the N actually stands for number but some people just say it wrong. Good thought though. : )

Answer 2

The word PIN is formed of the first letter from each word in the phrase 'Personal Identification Number'. Saying PIN number, is just short-hand for the above.

Answer 3

That's a pet peeve of mine! Even people working in police departments and insurance companies say it.

My belief is that - when this particular acronym first came into use - so many people didn't know what it stood for. Rather than educating the general public, people asking the question got tired of having to explain and soon became accustomed to adding the word "number" at the end. Or perhaps the person asking the question didn't understand what PIN actually stood for.

Over time others continued the mistake until it's now an "un"-accepted form of speech. Whenever someone says this in my presence I ask if they mean "PI number" or "PIN" and tell them what they've actually said. Perhaps if enough people pointed this out others would realize their error and stop making it.

Answer 4

Oh God, you people are stupid, READ the question, Shes not asking why we shortened Personal Identification Number to "Pin", she's asking why do we say Number after PIN as it is the same as saying Personal Identification Number Number.

Answer 5

The body of the answers you have received here should tell you that the jest of your question has elluded most people here BECAUSE what you're saying is so commonly used that no one even thinks about it and it is an extremely covert thing !!
But, the reason that it is used in the fashion that you are speaking of --- is because people associate it quicker with the I D thing as opposed to the Writing instrument---- If you were to use the phrase --- please put in your "pin" a good third of the people would wonder why you have asked them to place their Ink Pen into a machine---- NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE IGNORANCE OF THE PUBLIC !!!---- SO---- we say "please put in your "pin" number --- and --- bingo--- people relate the "number" thing to their "PIN" !!!

Answer 6

Because to say *Personal Identification Number *
would take to far too LONG
to say this ,may cause your tongue, to get tied up in a knot!!!

so we use the abbreviation *PIN * number

LOL we say *number *
so people will know ,
we are not talking about skinny legs ,
or sharp objects used for needlework

Hope this is clear

>^,,^<

Answer 7

It's either because we say it without thinking, as a PIN is a number, or because some people don't actually know what it means

Answer 8

The N stands for number- Personal Identification Number. *Hawaii*

Answer 9

It bugs me too! There are loads of them!

PED doors (on the Underground). So you're saying platform edge doors doors.

HRT tablets - hormone replacement tablets tablets!

I was having exactly this conversation in work a couple of days ago and we thought of so many, but my mind's gone blank!

I also hate seeing apostrophes in ridiculous places. Such as:

Banana's
Potato's
Tomato's
DVD's
CD's
A-Level's

My list is endless. Glad I'm not the only grammatically anal person out there!

Answer 10

It just feels more natural because most every number we have has the word number after it.

Phone number
House number
Drivers license number
Social security number - I have noticed that on some job applications it had SSN# which is saying number twice also. I had a laugh the first time I noticed it.