re = /((\d+){4})-\1/m
str = '1988-1988
1967-1967
1206-2016
2016-2016
1111-1010
'
subst = '\\1'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html