>>>>>>>Redundancy!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>ICU Unit
>>>>>>>ATM Machine
>>>>>>>PIN Number
>>>>>>>Tuna Fish (What other kind of tuna is there? Do we ever say I would like a Bacon Pig Hamburger Cow?)
>>>>>>>VIN Number
>>>>>>>and ...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I'll give you the ridiculousness of ICU Unit and ATM machine, since the acronyms are 'spelled out'.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Tuna Fish is part of the vernacular, I'm afraid, as is Cod Fish.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>But PIN and VIN are generally said as a word, so I guess people want to distinguish between a pin (a piece of metal with a pointy end) and a PIN by putting the 'number' after it.
>>>>>
>>>>>I agree with Jim.
>>>>>
>>>>>PIN was doomed and became"pin number" from the very start, although there do seem to be more people dropping the "number" nowadays, I'm pleased to note.
>>>>>As for differentiating it from the metal artifact, I'd like to see someone "entering" a pin.
>>>>>
>>>>>As for ICU unit, I remember I got flak a few years ago for mentioning the redundancy of calling someone a "CIA agent"
>>>>
>>>>There's no redundancy in CIA Agent is there? One could be a CIA filing clerk, or a CIA Human Resources Manager. So why not a CIA Agent?
>>>
>>>Kinell! I said I got this same flak a few years ago so no comment, except if the CIA is the C I Agency, then an agent thereof is a CI Agent. Nuff said.
>>
>>Well, almost nuff anyway. The name of the outfit is "Central Intelligence Agency", not "Central Intelligence". A "Joe's Meat Market cashier" is not a "Joe's Meat cashier" just because it's a market.
>
>Different thing. If you go to an employment agency you get an interview with an employment agent, not an employment agency agent.

Yes, but only because you are not including the actual name of the employer in the job. The job is "employment agent". The actual terminology if you want to include the employer would be "Employment Agency employment agent". When you include the name "Central Intelligence Agency", you are describing the employer, and the employer is not the employee. Same as "Anagram Systems Ltd. software developer".

>
>I accept that there are CIA floor cleaners, but an agent thereof is a CI Agent.

Why? "Agent" is just a job description - no different than "floor cleaner", "filing clerk" or "hit man".