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The English language, as commonly spoken in this country, is full of excessive verbiage and unnecessary phraselogical redundancy — in other words, tautology.
Taut • ol • o • gy:
Needless repetition of an idea, esp. in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.”
Some tautological phrases are so ingrained in our popular language — like “bits and pieces” or “first and foremost” — that to simplify them would destroy their traditional impact. This is what interests me: when language abandons utilitarianism in favor of habit. Richard Kallan’s book Armed Gunmen, True Facts and other Ridiculous Nonsense is a great collection of common and uncommon tautological phrases, and we thought we’d highlight some of our favorites here.
• “False pretense”
If pretense is “the act of alleging falsely,” as Dictionary.com asserts, then wouldn’t a false pretense be … true?
• “Advance warning”
A warning delivered after the fact is known, I believe, as “Monday morning quarterbacking.”
• “Convicted felon”
If we’re guilty until proven innocent, there shouldn’t be too many convictionless felons running around.
• “Surviving widow”
Kallan defines it thusly: “The last woman standing in an all-widow game of Russian roulette.”
• “Fall down”
Gravity tends to make this modifier unnecessary.
• “All throughout”
More pervasive than occasionally throughout.
• “Close proximity”
As opposed to a distant proximity?
• “Sum total”
This really gets the point across … and then sum.
• “Shared dialogue”
When was the last time you heard a shared monologue?
• “Mass exodus”
When everyone leaves church at the same time? And speaking of church …
• “Holy Bible”
I’m so tired of these unholy Bibles.
Repetitive redundancies are everywhere — what are some of your favorites?
Comments (139)
Comment
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The only one on the list that I take exception to is “fall down.” If you’ve never fallen up a flight of stairs, then you don’t drink nearly enough.
My favorite is “At this point in time.”
posted by Rachel on 9-20-2007 at 7:24 am
I’ve fallen up the stairs many a time. It is entirely possible – and humiliating.
posted by Bryn on 9-20-2007 at 7:33 am
Can’t post the photo here, but on the gate at our municipal “waste collection site” is the following bit of information:
“Illegal dumping is illegal”
Duh!
posted by Doc on 9-20-2007 at 7:33 am
Two twins-
“The two twins are coming to the party.” As opposed to three of them?
Revert back-
More a double negative(ish) than a redunancy, but it still drives me crazy
posted by Mean Joe on 9-20-2007 at 7:35 am
Hey Rachel,
With regard to falling “up” the stairs: your center of gravity is still moving downward, right? You don’t trip at the bottom of the stairs and end up at the top. Perhaps more appropriate would be to say you fell ON the stairs.
posted by Ransom on 9-20-2007 at 7:39 am
None of the examples on the list really bother me, but there is one that annoys me to no end: “6:00 a.m. in the morning”
posted by Molly on 9-20-2007 at 7:43 am
My favorite is hot water heater. Why would you want to heat hot water?
posted by Mary on 9-20-2007 at 7:44 am
I agree with most of these, but the last one does make some sense. The word “bible” just means a collection of books, or scrolls, so the christian version is a holy collection of scrolls. The word bible is coming closer and closer to meaning any book with authority (the hacker’s bible, the manure-spreader’s bible etc), so distinguishing the holy version might be worthwhile sometimes…
posted by minifig on 9-20-2007 at 7:46 am
I object to your use of advance warning. We used to live in a town that had been wiped out by a tornado several years before we moved there. The sirens didn’t go off until the tornado was on the ground. That was a warning. Had it gone off ten minutes before the tornado came so that the people could take cover, it would have been an advance warning.
Something that chews on me every time they say it on NPR is “rule of law”. Isn’t that a redundancy? I would think that, if it were a law, it would automatically be a rule, huh?
posted by Leslie on 9-20-2007 at 7:48 am
Staple together.
posted by RSN on 9-20-2007 at 7:56 am
I’m dating myself a bit here, but it always used to amuse me when people talked and wrote about the ERA Amendment–newscasters, newspapers, pretty much everyone, it seemed. Since ERA (for you youngsters) was the acronym for the Equal Rights Amendment, the problem is plainly obvious, except nobody seemed to see it. Which brings me to another tautological phrase…
posted by Dan on 9-20-2007 at 7:56 am
“Bare minimum”, “first invented”,
and basically every statement that Yogi Berra made.
posted by TerryS on 9-20-2007 at 7:57 am
I have some issue with including “close proximity” on this list. Proximity is often considered a measured attribute, with varying values. While usually two objects’ proximity to each other is “close” in the global sense, when comparing varying objects some can be said to be in closer proximity than others. As such, the phrase “Close proximity” can make sense because you are claiming that these objects are close together, even when compared against the set of objects within the proximity.
posted by dhershey on 9-20-2007 at 8:04 am
How did everybody miss the most egregious tautology of all!?!?
“Plan ahead”
posted by Alice on 9-20-2007 at 8:12 am
What about: “irregardless”
Are we disregarding disregard?
posted by SC on 9-20-2007 at 8:25 am
When I was just out of college, I worked for a video production business called “Bud’s Video Productions.” When I finally talked Bud into admitting that maybe it wasn’t the most professional-sounding name for bringing in clients, he altered the name. When we got the new yellow pages ad, he showed me. It read “BVP Productions.” I said, “Bud’s Video Productions Productions?” He pretty much hated me from then on.
posted by Bre on 9-20-2007 at 8:27 am
How could I forget?
“And plus” heard everywhere
“Then, too, also” heard this week on NPR.
Sheesh!
posted by Alice on 9-20-2007 at 8:27 am
“Revert back” crawls under my skin where it lays its evil seed and festers for a minute or two until I get over it.
posted by elizabutt on 9-20-2007 at 8:34 am
This is one I always, always, always hated. When someone has a baby I always hear. “Guess what, Mary had a brand new baby girl.” As oppose to what? an old baby? a recycled baby? A used baby?
posted by Carol on 9-20-2007 at 8:35 am
I work for a state Job Service. We get job descriptions that list requirements:
PAST EXPERIENCE or
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Duh, isn’t all “experience” in the past? Drives me nuts.
posted by WizardBoy on 9-20-2007 at 8:37 am
Thought of another one:
“Consensus of opinion”
Well…. gee, I’d hate to have a consensus of no opinions.
posted by WizardBoy on 9-20-2007 at 8:39 am
George Carlin has a collection of these phrases. My favorites are:
Pre-heat – how does one heat before heating?
Pre-board – just like pre-heat, how does one board before boarding? Is it an out of body experience?
Said and done – this one bugs me because my boss (Flying Spaghetti Monster love her) says it backwards all the time. I just want to yell, “If you are going to use this phrase, please do it correctly!”
Someone should write an article about inane sports phrases.
posted by Dusty on 9-20-2007 at 8:41 am
So, if I use these phrases frequently, then I am a prolific tautologist?
posted by thatothrgirl on 9-20-2007 at 8:45 am
I love a good shared monologue:
To be or not to be, that is the question…
“Proactive” makes me insane, but I’ve given up objecting.
posted by Mark A. Rayner on 9-20-2007 at 8:47 am
A hot water heater continually reheats a tank of hot water. A demand water heater is in fact a cold water heater.
posted by Redfish on 9-20-2007 at 8:52 am
What about a Bad Omen? Omens are bad in general. So, why use the adjective “Bad?” Ther eis no such thing as a good omen!
posted by Daniel on 9-20-2007 at 8:53 am
How about ‘near miss?’
As opposed to a ‘far miss?’
Also if you take ‘near’ as meaning ‘almost,’ then you’ve got an ‘almost miss,’ isn’t that actually a hit?
posted by Katherine on 9-20-2007 at 8:59 am
ATM machine
posted by Jerry on 9-20-2007 at 9:03 am
Omens can be either good or bad.
Hearing a cat sneaze is considered a good omen to all who hear it.
My being hit on the foot with an eight-ball on a bus would be otherwise (this did happen!)
posted by TerryS on 9-20-2007 at 9:07 am
One of the pieces of equipment on my desk proudly proclaims itself a “Blank CD Labeler.” It’s always bugged me just a little. Along the same lines, I also have a boss who continually asks us to order “blank paper.” I’m just waiting for him to drop the qualifier one day… oh, the fun…
posted by Roger on 9-20-2007 at 9:14 am
Adding to the George Carlin, sub-thread, his observations are more paradoxical than tautalogical. Another of his paradoxes is “new and improved.” If it’s new, it can’t be improving on anything. If it’s improved on something that already exists, it can’t be new.
His delivery was much funnier.
posted by Mean Joe on 9-20-2007 at 9:24 am
I can’t believe no one yet has posted the often said, “pin number”. In addition, while I don’t hear it as often now, I have heard, “ATM machine”.
posted by Barry on 9-20-2007 at 9:32 am
I don’t know if this trully falls in this category, but. . .
“if I don’t see you again, have a Merry Christmas.”
So if I see Sally again, after the well wishes, my Christmas will not be merry?
posted by Elizabeth on 9-20-2007 at 9:41 am
My biggest pet peeve is “near miss” mentioned and explained above.
But then there’s TCBY Yogurt. The Country’s Best Yogurt Yogurt? I don’t think they realized how stupid it sounded BEFORE they spent millions in advertising.
posted by Chrysalis on 9-20-2007 at 9:45 am
I hate when stores & companies advertise that they’re giving away a free gift: “Free gift with new checking account!” “Free gift with purchase!” – If a sign said “Gift with purchase,” I would never assume that I would have to pay more than the purchase price in order to receive the gift… it’s a GIFT
posted by sd on 9-20-2007 at 10:05 am
to Chrysalis, I never realized that that’s what TCBY stood for.
and also, yea, i sometimes catch myself saying the time then saying ‘morning/afternoon/evening’ in the same sentence. i realize it’s redundant, but i still do it.
posted by Marina on 9-20-2007 at 10:06 am
Here in Santa Fe we have the La Fonda Hotel, which translates to “the the hotel hotel”. Is that not prolifically tautologistic? Or just overly redundant?
posted by Cedar on 9-20-2007 at 10:29 am
there are sum totals because there are also sub totals.
posted by Birch on 9-20-2007 at 10:56 am
“The La Brea Tar Pits”= The The Tar Tar Pits
PIN number= Personal Identification Number number
posted by Lebetho on 9-20-2007 at 10:58 am
au jus
Which I believe is French for with juice. Restaurants that serve things with with juice piss me off.
posted by tobisan on 9-20-2007 at 11:03 am
5% APR.
posted by Miss Cellania on 9-20-2007 at 11:05 am
Along the lines of PIN number, and ATM machine an abbreviation that kills me is SSN#. If the ‘N’ stands for number, why is the number sign there?
Also, on menus, French Dip Sandwich with au jus. French isn’t my strong suit, but ‘au’ means ‘with’ in this instance, right?
posted by Emily Jane on 9-20-2007 at 11:06 am
One of my pet peeves: When news reporters use ‘near miss’ repeatedly to describe an almost hit, such as in a car accident or some other close call. There’s no such thing as a near miss — either you miss or you don’t, in which case, you probably came into an unfortunate situation.
posted by Cyndi on 9-20-2007 at 11:10 am
very unique
posted by JMac on 9-20-2007 at 11:27 am
Add to the ATM/PIN list “ISBN number.”
I’m with George Carlin on “pre-” words, like pre-addressed envelope, pre-recorded show, pre-heated oven, pre-washed spinach, etc.
In recipes, “mix together” or “combine together.”
posted by Karen on 9-20-2007 at 11:32 am
I heart Mark’s comment. I really hate the word “proactive.” I do things actively, and that’s good enough for me.
posted by Mindy on 9-20-2007 at 11:56 am
Karen, I’m with you.
“ISBN number”
I hear this more times per day than I can count.
posted by Lindsay on 9-20-2007 at 12:17 pm
Not tautological, but grating to my ears anyway…
“False sense of security.” Even though you may not in fact actually *be* secure, your *sense* of security is still real enough to you. Perhaps it should be called an “unwarranted sense of security.”
“Decimated.” Used in the media all the time to mean “destroyed.” When the Romans decimated a military unit for mutiny or cowardice, they lined up everybody and counted off every tenth man and put him to death. So they were still at 90 percent capacity – I would hardly call that destroyed.
posted by Ken on 9-20-2007 at 12:28 pm
Amen on “very unique”! “New classic” is another one that makes me shudder, in the same family with “new tradition.”
posted by Melinda on 9-20-2007 at 12:40 pm
While it’s not a tautology I really hate the phrase “went missing.”
I once had an argument with a phone solicitor about a free gift. First I argued that it was a redundancy, then pointed out it wasn’t even true because I’d have to pay for shipping and handling. He insisted it was still free.
But I won’t get it if I don’t pay shipping.
Right.
So, I won’t get it if I don’t pay?
Right.
Then it’s not free.
Yes, it is!
But, I have to pay for it.
No! You just pay the shipping!
Etc…
He was relentless. I had a tough time not laughing.
Finally, I pointed out that he’d just wasted alot of time with someone who was not going to order anything anyway, and hung up.
Oh! Hung up. When something is hung up does it hang down?
posted by Bassman on 9-20-2007 at 12:43 pm
The ERA reminded me of an episode on the old Lou Grant show (I’m dating myself, was that the actual name?). Billie, the cute young female reporter was dating a baseball player who was concerned about ERA. She almost creamed her jeans until he explained to him it stood for “earned run average”.
posted by ediew on 9-20-2007 at 12:50 pm
There are good omens. When my supervisor comes back from a manager’s meeting where our salaries are discussed and she has a smile on her face it is definitely a good omen. It’s one I’ve never seen, but in principle.
posted by Sue on 9-20-2007 at 12:53 pm
Cheese Quesadilla – which translates to cheese little cheese thing.
I was sitting at a Mexican restaurant the other day when a person received their Cheese Quesadilla and complained that is wasn’t a Cheese Quesadilla because it only had cheese in it.
posted by Dusty on 9-20-2007 at 1:06 pm
Another one popped into mind. This one really drives me crazy–”added bonus”. Do people even listen to what they’re saying?
posted by Alice on 9-20-2007 at 1:42 pm
For you computer folks out there:
NIC Card = Network Interface Card Card
Makes me crazy everytime!!
posted by Roni on 9-20-2007 at 1:56 pm
“Refer back to” is another pet peeve, much like the aforementioned “revert back”.
posted by Elizabeth on 9-20-2007 at 2:03 pm
fertilized embryo – if it isn’t fertilized, it’s probably not an embryo
posted by Debi on 9-20-2007 at 2:47 pm
How about “The thing is, is . . .” Ugh! Every English-speaking person on the planet seems to make this error, even talk show hosts & newscasters. Drives me crazy!! The “thing” either is, or isn’t, but nothing can “be be,” am I right?!
posted by Amy on 9-20-2007 at 2:48 pm
“*The* hoi polloi” annoys me, but that’s because I’m a word schmuck.
posted by HC on 9-20-2007 at 3:03 pm
I recently had a boss who prefixed everything that needed to be done with “Re-.” The prefix means “again,” and to use it when something has not been done a first time is annoying.
It specifically bothered me when my boss would say “re-fix,” especially when something had not been fixed before. Even so, “re-fix” is not the proper grammar for fixing something again.
posted by Steve on 9-20-2007 at 3:23 pm
I dislike hamburger meat, tunafish, and cash money.
posted by jana on 9-20-2007 at 3:34 pm
The use of redundancies has been in the English language for almost a thousand years or so. The Norman conquest of Britain in the 11th century made Latin and Old French (and later Medieval French) the language of English nobility and vernacular law.
Of course, the majority of the native population spoke what is today known as Old English (more akin to German). In order that all of the king’s subjects understood any legal documents or decrees, it was common to have both the old English and French terminology included. For example, Will (Old English) and Testament (Old French and Latin).
Over time the Old English and Old French merged into Middle and (eventually) modern English, but the penchant for redundancy has continued.
posted by Gary on 9-20-2007 at 3:59 pm
I hear all of you with “ATM machine” and “PIN number,” but Karen, I kind of feel like “ISBN number” is at least preferable to pronouncing “ISBN” like “izz-bin” like a couple of my coworkers do. (Yes, I work for a publisher; why do you ask?)
posted by Rachel on 9-20-2007 at 4:31 pm
“extremely historical” because a few things are kinda historical.
“reiterate again”…once more please.
“my friend, he”… you don’t need to say “he” just keep talking.
posted by Sarah on 9-20-2007 at 4:39 pm
Ransom,
Thanks for the kind words about my book, “Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies.”
When I wrote it, I thought I had collected and exposed just about every commonly used tautology. I was wrong. Since publication of the book, many have alerted me to redundancies that I missed. Your readers have done the same. I am grateful and once again delighted to see that there are so many of us who care about our language and how we communicate.
posted by Richard Kallan on 9-20-2007 at 6:24 pm
“Close proximity” is the one that grates me like nails on a chalkboard. It’s the equivalent of saying “fat obesity.” If you want to indicate degree of proximity, you can use a word like “extreme” or “great” – i.e., “He was in great proximity to the flames,” instead of “He was in close proximity to the flames.” (Again, as you would say someone suffers from “extreme” obesity, not “fat” obesity.)
The other one that bothers me is co-conspirator. A conspirator, by definition, is one engaged in an action with another; that’s what the “con” part of the word means. The extra co- is redundant.
posted by Amory on 9-20-2007 at 6:30 pm
Don’t you just love our language?
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 9-20-2007 at 6:54 pm
Shrimp scampi – literally “shrimp shrimp”
A really common one is “HIV virus” The V stands for virus, so this is redundant. A few months ago I was teaching a class and mentioned AIDS during the lecture. Not wanting to sound redundant, I referred to “the HIV.” Several of my students chuckled when I said “the HIV.” Even as I was saying it I realized how eccentric it sounded. Kind of grandmotherly or like a non-native speaker of English (I am neither).
posted by just_say_no_to_lutefisk on 9-20-2007 at 7:30 pm
Dan – but there is Good Omens – the fabulous Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman novel!
posted by Liz on 9-20-2007 at 9:06 pm
“I have a P.H.D. doctorate in Tautology! I have a P.H.D. doctorate in Tautology!”
posted by gary on 9-20-2007 at 9:11 pm
what about the reason is because? the webster dictionary give the following as the definition for because :”for the reason that”. That would make the reason is because…the reason is for the reason that
posted by Vivian on 9-20-2007 at 9:33 pm
What about…
“wilful negligence”???
am a lawyer…and just came across this one!!
posted by Vikram on 9-21-2007 at 1:09 am
The noted broadcaster Edwin Newman did a whole series of books about the debasement of the English language. As I recall, he was particularly unimpressed by the use of “dialog” as a verb.
Like others have observed above, “decimate” (as opposed to annihilate) and “one o’clock pm this afternoon” are particularly annoying…
My spousal unit (apologies to Dan Akroyd) will occasionally come into the living room and berate me for screaming at the talking heads on the TV who butcher the language.
Recent example, the use of statistics which on the surface (or any other place) are so inordinately wrong as to make one want to pick up the squirrel rifle and head into town. Today’s example, “200,000 people are scammed by payday check cashing services – that translates to 2 a day per person in SC”. Like I’ve ever used one of those “services” twice a day… Nor has anyone else.
posted by Doc on 9-21-2007 at 7:48 am
You people are killing me! I thought I was just a language geek, but apparently there is quite a following. As I was reading the comments I was thinking “6 AM in the morning.” Drives me nuts! Thanks, guys.
posted by Crookeddave on 9-21-2007 at 10:40 am
Fall down is also quite different than just fall, so I would say it’s not uselessly redundant. Fall down implies a completed aspect, and focuses a little on the end point,, in the sense that something completely fell and landed, whereas fall could mean that whatever is falling is still in the process of doing so. There are other things like this, like eat up, which is different than eat, and may imply some sort of fervor.
I feel like a lot of these ‘redundant’ phrases come to be because the words no longer have enough “oomph” (a highly linguistic term) on their own, sort of like why people say irregardless instead of just plain regardless which is supposed to mean exactly the same thing (but are they exactly the same?). A lot of these phrases have a tone of emphasis in them, like close proximity– one might compare proximity and close proximity to close or real damn close. You’ve even said it yourself in this post: All throughout is
“more pervasive than occasionally throughout”; while that may seem illogical that something can be ‘more pervasive’ when the extent is the whole of the object concerned, there’s a similar emphatic air to it.
If these phrases were completely unacceptable people just wouldn’t use them– I think the fact that you can find them repetitively in use implies that there’s some reason for it. You should take my words with a little grain of salt though, linguists are known to be a little too accepting of variation in language. ;)
posted by Ryan on 9-21-2007 at 12:44 pm
After reading my post, you will be able to tell that I have small children at home.
How about the phrase “taking a poop”.
Aren’t we all in fact “leaving” it. I don’t think I would like to carry that stuff around after.
posted by Mom2boys on 9-22-2007 at 7:41 am
I’m prior USMC, so my comments DO NOT APPLY TO THE USMC! But what about the term “Military Intelligence”?
posted by John Brown on 9-22-2007 at 9:46 am
Chai Tea = Tea tea
Usually found in Starbucks on the menu.
posted by DBK on 9-22-2007 at 12:00 pm
How about,
When newscasters report a car crash as “a bad accident on the parkway.” have you ever heard of a good car accident?
posted by Tdave on 9-23-2007 at 6:18 am
How about this song line “Only time will tell if we can pass the test of time” – Awful!!
A group of us in summer camp had to write a song for a play. It included the line “Everlasting memories forever will remain”. I said the line was a tautology, as did one other girl in the group, but the others ignored us.
posted by Amy W. on 9-25-2007 at 11:34 pm
Of all the “Business” tautology that must be untaught, please, please, enough with the ’strategic plans’!
posted by Jems on 9-26-2007 at 12:00 am
John, I think military intelligence is an oxymoron. The advance warning can only exist in relation to the warning following it, until then it’s just a warning. When the event it’s trying to warn of is already occurring, it’s an alarm.
posted by douglaslee on 9-26-2007 at 2:08 am
NFL Football (as opposed to NFL baseball?)
Hot water heater (why would you heat water that’s already hot?)
posted by Tom on 9-26-2007 at 6:28 am
It’s gratifying to see so many George Carlin fans here! But you’ve missed a few: “final destination” is my favorite. And from the same bit, “complete stop” and “personal belongings.” (”What other kinds of belongings are there – PUBLIC belongings??”)
But my favorite is “self-help books.” If you’re reading a book to help you, it’s not SELF-help is it?
posted by Vic on 9-26-2007 at 7:32 am
I just used another one in an email! It isn’t a true tautology, but it is along the same lines: saying “Not to mention…” as a way to introduce something.
posted by Vic on 9-26-2007 at 7:40 am
How about “I have this friend of mine…” ? Ugh.
posted by Carolyn on 9-26-2007 at 7:50 am
I could recommend to all of you ANY of Richard Lederer’s very fun books on language (but most of you likely are familiar with him).
As sports was mentioned above, I surprised that no one has mentioned a glaring example of redundancy:
“The Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem”
(The now official name of that baseball team.)
– The The Angles Angles of Anahiem –
Gad.
posted by Fencingrat on 9-26-2007 at 9:05 am
Although not technically a tautology, my language pet peeve is when people use the phrase “I could care less” to mean that they don’t give a damn. If you could care less, it means you are capable of caring less about the issue, thus you actually care more than the minimum. The correct phrase is “I couldn’t care less.” As soon as a person uses the phrase “I could care less,” I write them off as a stupid dumb ass.(tautology intended)
posted by Cindy on 9-26-2007 at 9:07 am
How many times have you listened to answering machines that inform you that the callee (?) is “Currently not available right now”?
posted by AMIKEMA on 9-26-2007 at 9:34 am
How about Model Number (see QVC, for example) when it contains letters AND numbers.
And then there’s the annoying “ink pen”!
posted by Trish on 9-26-2007 at 9:55 am
Slightly off topic:
Separate issue in language (since many folks who left comments noted other “peeves”) … the colloquial use of “I had my car stolen”, or “I had my house broken into” – - I hear it’s getting cheaper and cheaper to HAVE someone do this, though it is very difficult to find these services in the phone book.
When I was producing / engineering talk radio, we’d frequently have interview guests thank us for putting them on air, saying “Thank you for having me.”
Naturally, the only proper and acceptable response to this became “Well, thank you for being had.”
:-)
posted by Fencingrat on 9-26-2007 at 10:11 am
What about the newscaster’s use of fatal death? Or the unexpected surprise? Adequate suffiency.
I agree with the posters on near miss! A near miss is a hit; I don’t care what the military say. First introduced (similar to first invented). Then, there
s first met or first time I met… (It bothers me to no end. You can only MEET someone once. After that, you know them. You could meet up or visit with, but not MEET.)
posted by TexasTruckinLady on 9-26-2007 at 10:15 am
Here’s one I use all the time, just to aggravate.. Plus, also, besides. Kind of has a nice biblical ring to it, dontcha think?
posted by Rich Black on 9-26-2007 at 10:20 am
“each and every”
posted by cfields on 9-26-2007 at 11:37 am
the most commonly used:
“the reason why”
posted by jamin on 9-26-2007 at 11:45 am
When I moved from New York to Virginia, I was introduced to the term “ink pen”. This term has never been spoken without a Southern accent.
posted by Rick on 9-26-2007 at 1:51 pm
> Two twins-
> “The two twins are coming to the party.” > As opposed to three of them?
Actually, as opposed to one of the twins, unless they’re Siamese.
> 5% APR.
I suppose the % might be redundant, but APR adds valuable information about the frequency of the charge.
> NIC Card = Network Interface Card Card
Amen. Put that one with “ER room” and the aforementioned “ATM machine”.
> hamburger meat
Sort of redundant, but I look at is as more of a clarifier. Hamburger can refer to either the meat itself or the the entire burger, so adding “meat” is a useful clarification.
> wilful (sp) negligence
Again, not redundant. There are several definitions of negligence, and only some of them imply whether it was willful or unintentional. Negligence means, in this case, “Failure to exercise the degree of care considered reasonable under the circumstances, resulting in an unintended injury to another party.”
> I’m prior USMC, so my comments DO NOT
> APPLY TO THE USMC! But what about the
> term “Military Intelligence”?
Since we’re talking about redundancies and not oxymorons, does that mean you think all of the military is, by definition, intelligent, with the exception of USMC? ;-)
> “final destination”
A trip can have multiple destinations.
This is really common with the Khmer language. It commonly includes many phrases such as ជាមួយនឹង(with-with), ហេតុអ្វីបានជា (why-why), and មើលឃើញ (look-see).
posted by Ishmael on 9-26-2007 at 1:59 pm
‘Near’ (close to subject) and ‘Nearly’ (almost) are not the same. A near miss means the ball would have hit you had you been six inches to the left, as oposed to me throwing the ball to you and it landing six feet from you. To say nearly missed would mean had you been standing six inches to the right, the ball would not have hit you.
posted by Jos on 9-26-2007 at 2:43 pm
“final destination”
A trip can have multiple destinations
Wouldn’t the additional stops be considered way points?
posted by Wayne on 9-26-2007 at 3:15 pm
Biggest pet peeve: hearing my boss refer to “School Resource Officers” as “SRO Officers.” Every damn day!
posted by Erin on 9-26-2007 at 3:24 pm
The current tyranny of political correctness which attempts to guide people’s thinking (and greatly succeeding) has resulted in the most bizarre language, not the least of which is the completely contradictory promise by every university that I know, that they abide by the guidelines of “affirmative action and equal opportunity”.
posted by Elizabeth Rott on 9-26-2007 at 3:58 pm
Having a medical background, my worst pet peeve is “yellow jaundice”, which is yellow yellow. People this is a symptom NOT a disease. If you have it once, you will not necessarly have it forever.
Running a close second: “is it broken or just fractured?” Note: fracture/broken= same damn thing!
posted by nursy nurse on 9-26-2007 at 4:37 pm
As a transplant to the south, a native explained to me the reason for the term “ink pen.” Since in the South (or at least in Alabama) the words “pen” and “pin” are pronounced virtually identically, the expression “ink pen” is required in speech to distinguish it from a “straight pin” or a “safety pin.” You will almost never see it written because it’s not required to distinguish the written words, only the spoken words.
posted by Ginny on 9-26-2007 at 4:52 pm
Daniel: if there’s no such thing as a good omen, what’s your thought about a rainbow?
posted by LinnyG on 9-26-2007 at 7:50 pm
Almost Late. I think almost late is right on time.
posted by MJMoore on 9-27-2007 at 9:32 am
I always chuckle when someone says they had an “unexpected surprise.”
posted by Global Nomad on 9-27-2007 at 11:11 am
How about “Xerox” copy????
posted by D. J. on 9-27-2007 at 6:31 pm
Yeah, but is “Xerox” really a verb?
posted by Ransom on 9-27-2007 at 6:59 pm
Being from the Midwest, I had to be taught later in life that “You want to come with?” is a fine example of tautology.
posted by Breezie on 9-27-2007 at 7:36 pm
I disagree with the “convicted felon”. There are felonious people who have’t been convicted “as of yet”.
posted by John Brown on 9-28-2007 at 8:02 am
I love it when people in the industry say, “Check the VIN number”. Duuuhhhh!
VIN = Vehicle Identification Number.
posted by Mighty Mike on 9-28-2007 at 8:16 am
It drives me crazy when someone who is sick says they have a temperature. I certainly hope so! When your temperature is above average, you have a FEVER!
And these postings remind me of another of my pet peeves, poor spelling. I’ve seen some here.
posted by Pinky on 9-29-2007 at 11:23 am
Maybe this is because I am a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, but…
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is the worst name.
The The Angels Angels of Anaheim.
posted by jorge on 9-29-2007 at 11:39 am
a lot of these have an actual name as a phenomenon – redundant acronym syndrome (or RAS syndrome, humorously)
so many are simply a result of not translating foreign words though; e.g: “Sahara desert” (Sahara = desert in Arabic), “chai tea”, etc.
posted by Tom on 9-30-2007 at 12:49 pm
Here are a few of my “pets”:
exact same
fixing to
her (him) and me
going to go
posted by Sandi on 9-30-2007 at 4:20 pm
I’ve had to correct two people in the last week about “over exaggeratation”
posted by bagman on 10-1-2007 at 5:59 pm
Is it just me, or do newscasters often misuse legal terminology? I hear them say, “The man was arrested for suspicion of murder.” Doesn’t that mean suspicion was his charge, rather than murder? Allegedly?
posted by KB on 10-14-2007 at 2:32 pm
Our country has had a problem with redundancy since its conception . . .
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union . . . ”
More perfect? LOL
posted by Cindy on 10-21-2007 at 9:01 pm
Dose the “WARNING: Contains peanuts” label on the peanutbutter jar coumt, or is that just plain human stupidity?
posted by That lady on 12-30-2007 at 12:08 am
What about “bottomless abyss” and “emtpy void”……
posted by Mahesh Patwardhan on 2-24-2009 at 5:19 am
I believe you forgot “tuna fish”. People say these two words together when simply saying “tuna” would suffice.
posted by jen on 2-24-2009 at 6:35 am
Convicted felon differs from accused felon, admitted felon, and more precisely, confessed felon.
posted by Brian on 2-24-2009 at 7:57 am
@Leslie: “Rule of law” means that the law rules the state, instead of the whims of a person or a party. It’s a slightly different meaning of “rule” than what you described.
My 2c on the “falling down” debate: it’s still useful for indicating what you fell down, i.e. “fell down the stairs” instead of “fell down the laundry chute”. Other prepositions just don’t work as well.
posted by Wilson on 2-24-2009 at 8:55 am
Another thing radio traffic reporters talk about is “traffic moving in a northbound direction.”
posted by Charles on 2-24-2009 at 9:31 am
“The reason is because…” I saw that mentioned above and agree. I worked with a fellow who said this all-the-time.
It drove me crazy and I would often leave the room when he spoke – he was a verbose fellow at the best of times and would take four sentences to speak one’s worth.
posted by Matthew on 2-24-2009 at 9:40 am
“Also too”
posted by Ben on 2-24-2009 at 9:48 am
“pre-heat the oven”. Heat it before you heat it? Reminds me of a George Carlin stand up. Very funny!!
recaptcha: Conrail’s Telegram
posted by Jaime on 2-24-2009 at 11:22 am
No illegal parking.
Is illegal parking okay where this sign is not displayed?
posted by Gregory on 2-24-2009 at 11:26 am
While I am at it, the overuse of personal as in – “in my personal opinion” or “I personally feel”. I guess it is used for emphasis, but is it necessary?
posted by Gregory on 2-24-2009 at 11:34 am
Finally – medical insurance. A “pre-existing” condition. It either exists or existed. Unless you suffered from it before you were conceived.
posted by Gregory on 2-24-2009 at 11:38 am
I urge everyone to eschew obfuscation at once.
posted by T-Dub on 2-24-2009 at 3:19 pm
In Juneau, Alaska you will find a street sign that says “El Camino Street”, or “The Road Street”.
posted by RhondaB on 2-24-2009 at 3:33 pm
Pin number – personal identification number number
VIN number – vehicle identification number number
posted by Lisa on 2-24-2009 at 7:49 pm
Thesis Statement. A thesis is a statement.
Statement statement?
posted by Diane on 2-24-2009 at 9:07 pm
Thirty years ago, the news was filled with references to the “SALT talks” between the US and the Soviet Union.
SALT Talks = Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Talks
posted by Laurie on 2-25-2009 at 12:14 am
Nice!! But i have to object to ‘Fall Down’. Imagine a lizard crawling above our heads on the ceiling. And it falls. Where does it fall?? In its reference, it is up. Fall Up. And as long as we aren’t on our heads, it will Fall Down. I hate “The reason is because…”
posted by Anant on 2-25-2009 at 7:19 am
I used to wait tables at a restaurant that had a billboard proclaiming the restaurant “the Bay Area’s newest tradition”.
If it’s new how can it be a tradition already?
posted by Paul on 2-25-2009 at 8:25 pm
In England, they supposedly have a Bath Spa University College. Even if it is in Bath, England, a little redundant, don’t cha think? How about “Puppy dog”, “Baby puppy”, “Kitty Cat”.
posted by Sara on 3-1-2009 at 11:57 am
People obviously have a lot to say about this topic — and so do I. Most of the examples I object to have been noted (Holy Bible, convicted felon, fall down, advance[d] warning, close proximity). It seems these all exist to emphasize or clarify something that isn’t communicated without the redundancy.
As for “fall down,” I would add that not only does “fall down” imply a completed action or something like a specific type of fall (a fall to the floor/ground off of your feet, maybe), one could also fall over, through, across, or into something. One could fall out, fall onto, fall forward, fall back, or just fall (as from a rooftop).
Also, “false pretense” began as a legal term which is probably how it gained popular usage. I assume it’s use is more to distinguish the falsehood as being one of pretense rather than some other type of fraud. In other words, it was the pretense that was fraudulent, not the promise or the act. Married under false pretenses meaning that the marriage may actually have been valid, but the one party may have been “induced” by a fraud…as opposed to a fraudulent marriage in which the marriage itself is invalid because the priest was a con-artist or whatever…
What I’m noticing is that a lot of comments are more likely related to superfluous modifiers than actual redundancies (very unique, ink pen, very historic). I would also say that things like “with au jus” and “Los Angeles Angels” are not strictly speaking tautologies since the exist in the English language as proper nouns or some type of borrowed word. If “El Camino Street” were just called “El Camino,” or “The Street,” that would be kind of confusing. Likewise, a French Dip Sandwich au jus would be strange, even if in some way grammatically correct, because “au jus” isn’t a borrowed term for “with juice” like “a la mode” is for “with ice cream”. It’s a term specifically referring to the juice served with a French Dip Sandwich…or whatever. (Incidentally, I believe “a la mode” means “in the style.”)
@Cindy: as perfect can mean “fitting its definition precisely” and things can be more precise or more fitting, why can’t they be more perfect?
@Amory: I can sort of understand extreme proximity, but what is “great proximity”? Close proximity seems to make more sense. If a murderer is in the proximity of my house, I might want to know whether that’s close proximity or not…but if you said great proximity…I would be confused. Super proximity I would get my shotgun.
@bagman: “over exaggerate” (an exaggeration in its own right) is probably a tautology (”over overstate”), but it implies there is an acceptable amount of exaggeration, and then there’s going to far…it may not be redundant from that perspective.
@Diane: a Thesis statement is a particular type of statement, so like “over exaggerate,” I think it could be a tautology, but it’s also in some way a technical term to differentiate from Thesis papers, or other statements within a thesis paper that are not theses, and indicating also that it requires supporting arguments (which not all statements do).
First invented, first introduced could be tautologies, but what about barbed wire or the automobile where several people are credited with the invention at around the same time, but one of them was first. First met seems also to depend on usage. If you say “the first time I met Mark,” meaning the first time you were acquainted with him, that may be redundant. However, if you say “I first met Mark at the university. Several years later we met again while hob-knobbing in D.C…” and mean “came into contact with” where your first meeting may also imply getting acquainted, I don’t think it’s tautological at all.
A few people seem to be implying that “prolific tautologist” is a tautology. I don’t see how “prolific tautologist” is redundant…
posted by Chad on 3-14-2009 at 4:27 am