Tautologie angielskie

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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.”