Pleonasms or Tautological Redundancies
Avoid redundancies by not using unnecessary repetitions.
Pleonasms are the opposites (antonyms) of oxymora. A pleonasm consists of two concepts (usually two words) that are redundant. What does “redundant” mean? Well, how about “more than enough; overabundant; excess; and superfluous”? Still having a problem understanding what pleonasm means? Some pleonastic expressions are also known as tautologies. Tautology means, “needless repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence; redundancy; pleonasm.” What about pleonasm? It means, “the use of more words than are necessary for the expression of an idea; redundancy.” So it is that we go around in circles: pleonasm means tautology, which means redundancy, which means pleonasm, which means tautology, ad infinitum.
Tautologous expressions are often used in legal documents for clarification of meaning; such as, “will and testament” and “breaking and entering”. This practice may have been a result of expressing English documents with a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and French or Latin terms. When early writers weren’t sure if both designations had the same meaning or that others might not have a clear understanding of the French or Latin, they apparently included terms from both the Anglo-Saxon and the “foreign” words side by side, just to be sure others understood what was meant; this according to David Crystal in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
- ABM missile
- ABS system
- absolutely essential
- absolutely necessary
- a cappella without music
- AC current
- ACT test
- advance forward
- advance scouting *
- advance warning
- affirmative yes
- affluent rich *
- aid and abet
- American chop suey
- A.M. in the morning
- AMOCO Oil Co.
- an anachronism in his own time *
- and etc.
- anonymous stranger
- APL programing language
- armed assault and holdup *
- ascend up
- ATM machine
- attach together
- autobiography of my life
- automatic ATM machine
- bad evil
- BASIC code
- basic fundamentals
- beautiful vista to look out upon *
- boat marina *
- both football teams were deadlocked at halftime *
- breaking and entering
- buried and suffocated to death *
- CAD design
- cash money
- cease and desist
- circulated around
- classic tradition
- classify into groups
- climb up
- close proximity
- close scrutiny
- CNN news network
- co-equal partners *
- cold frost
- cold ice
- collaborate together
- combined together
- commuting back and forth
- completely filled
- completely unanimous
- component parts
- connect up together
- conniption fit
- consecutive extra points in a row *
- constant nagging
- continuing on
- couture fashion
- current incumbent *
- dark night
- DC current
- dead corpse
- definite decision
- descend down
- diametrically opposed
- different variation *
- DMZ zone
- doctorate degree
- DOS operating system
- dry ice
- each and every
- each per capita *
- eliminate altogether
- empty hole
- empty space
- end result
- entirely eliminating
- essential necessity
- exact replica
- exact same
- exactly the same
- existing condition
- experiment someone was just trying out *
- extra added features
- extreme hazard
- favorable approval *
- federal deficit
- fellow colleague
- final end
- final showdown *
- first conceived *
- following below
- forced compulsion
- foreign imports
- former graduate (of an educational institution) *
- former veteran *
- frank candor *
- free gift
- free gratis
- freezing cold
- full satisfaction
- frozen ice
- frozen tundra
- general consensus of opinion
- give and bequeath
- GMT time
- good benefit
- good luck
- good success *
- good success *
- government deficit
- grand total
- grateful thanks
- growing greater
- half a dozen of one and six of another
- handwritten manuscript
- hard rock (as in Hard Rock Cafe?)
- have and hold
- hear with one’s own ears
- HIV virus
- hot fire
- hot water heater
- imminent at any moment *
- individual person
- indulgent patience
- inquisitive busybody
- intentional planning
- invited guests
- “…it was never our intent to intentionally exclude…” (heard on the radio)
- irregardless *
- ISDN network
- join together
- joint collaboration
- joint cooperation
- killed dead
- knowledgeable experts
- last will and testament
- LCD display
- LED diode
- lesbian women or lesbian woman
- literate-English teachers
- literate readers
- little animalcules
- little baby
- live witness
- living legend in his own time *
- long-chronic illness
- long litany
- major breakthrough
- malignant cancer
- manually by hand
- many frequent
- marital spouse
- may possibly
- meandering back and forth and all around *
- mental thought
- merge together
- mesa table
- missing gaps *
- mutual cooperation
- microdot
- modern colleges of today
- Mount Fujiyama (Mount Mountain)
- more easier
- more than unique–it’s practically one of a kind *
- mutual confidence *
- NATO organization
- near proximity
- necessary essentials
- negative misfortune
- negative no
- never, ever
- new discovery *
- new innovations *
- new neophyte
- new recruit
- nocturnal-night vampires
- nomenclature terms
- nonreading illiterates
- normal, everyday
- nostalgia for the past *
- not sufficient enough *
- null and void
- obsolete thing of the past *
- old adage
- old customs
- old senior citizens
- only unique (person, place, or thing)
- oral conversation *
- original founder
- original source
- over again
- overdone this a little too much *
- overused cliche
- pair of twins *
- past experience
- past history
- past tradition *
- PC Computer
- perfectly legitimate
- personal friend
- personal friendship
- personal individual
- PIN number (Private Identification Number number)
- pizza pie
- plane flying aloft in the air above *
- play actor
- please RSVP
- P.M. in the evening
- poisonous venoms
- polar opposites
- positive yes
- postponed until later
- potentially capable *
- pre planning
- present incumbent
- previously listed above
- pruned out
- quite unique
- rags and tatters
- real actual
- recently new
- receded back *
- re-continuation *
- redundancies, tautologies, and pleonasms
- redundant redundancies
- redundant repetitions
- refer back
- regular routine
- religious holiday
- repeat again
- repeated redundancies
- repetitious redundancies
- resulting effects
- retreating back
- return back
- revert back
- rice paddy
- Rio Grande River (Big River River)
- root cause
- round circle
- ruling junta *
- safe haven (donated by Frances in Australia)
- safe sanctuary *
- safe sanctuary *
- Sahara desert
- SCSI Interface
- see with one’s own eyes
- seedling plant
- serious danger
- sharp point
- shape and form
- sin taxes
- sink down
- situation is calm and quiet (heard on CNN regarding Congo)
- small speck
- specific examples
- stellar astronomers
- string together
- staged scenario
- successful achievement
- sudden impulse
- suffered poorly *
- surrounded on all sides *
- sum total
- technical jargon
- temporary reprieve
- the hoi polloi (hoi means “the”)
- The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits)
- The Los Altos Hills (The The Hills Hills)
- tiny speck
- top priority
- total destruction
- totally demolished
- totally unnecessary
- true facts
- tuna fish
- 12 o’clock midnight (or 12 midnight)
- 12 o’clock noon (or 12 noon)
- two-man tandem *
- two-person tandem *
- ultimate goal
- undergraduate student
- unexpected emergency
- unexpected surprise
- unhealthy sickness
- university college students
- unmarried bachelor
- unmarried old maid
- unnecessary redundancies *
- unsolved mystery
- usual custom
- useless and unnecessary
- vacillating back and forth *
- VIN number (Vehicle Identification Number number)
- visible with your own eyes *
- wall mural
- watching and observing
- wet water
- widow woman
- widow of the late (Whoever) *
- widower man
- will and testament
- with au jus
- wordy and verbose
- world-wide-pandemic disease (heard on CNN from “health expert”)
- youthful teenagers
* The pleonasms followed by an asterisk (*) came from an essay, “The Affluent Rich” by Nat Boynton in his book, Media Rare. My special thanks to Mr. Jerry Gordon for contributing a copy of the essay so I could go through it and pick out the “UR’s” (Unnecessary Redundancies) or pleonasms.
Now, as with the oxymora, we include pleonasms in sentences; some of them are from the mouths of famous celebrities.
- It’s deja vu all over again. -attributed to Yogi Berra
- “Smoking can kill you, and if you’ve been killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.” -attributed to Brooke Shields
- Lead-lined coffins called a health risk.
- Census says rich have most of the money. (news item)
- Cliches are a dime a dozen–avoid them like the plague.
- Cure suggestibility with hypnosis.
- I’ve told you a million times, “Don’t exaggerate!”
- Is that a mirage or am I seeing things?
- It’s bad luck to be superstitious.
- I used to be an agnostic, but now I’m not so sure.
- Sometimes you can observe a lot just by watching. -attributed to Yogi Berra
- Half the lies our opponents tell about us are not true.
- Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it’s so incredible, it’s unbelievable. -Tom Landry
- When large numbers of men are unable to find work, unemployment results. -Calvin Coolidge
- Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined. -Samuel Goldwyn
- I never make predictions, especially about the future. -Attributed to Samuel Goldwyn
- “In the city today, the temperature rose to 105 degrees. This sudden rise of temperature was responsible for the intolerable heat.”
- “Trapped, like a trap in a trap.” -Dorothy Parker
- I used to be indecisive, now I’m not sure.
- He lived his life to the end.
- Some people are superficial but that’s just on the surface.
- The world is apathetic but I don’t care.
- Always avoid alliteration.
- Treachery will often bring loyalty into question.
- Perspective is in the eye of the beholder.
- “If we do not succeed, we run the risk of failure.” -attributed to former Vice-President Dan Quayle
- “Seen somewhere in the U.S. — “Fish and chips with French fries.”
