A few days ago, Claire said she was going to Costco later in the week and one of things she wanted to get was tuna fish. I\u2019m not sure why, but it occurred to me when she said it, that it was redundant. I\u2019m pretty sure that tuna can only be a fish, so it isn\u2019t necessary to mention fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I\u2019ve touched on this before, but our language is filled with redundancies\u2026. I often see advertisements offering a \u201cfree gift.\u201d Watching congress debate recently, I heard the term \u201caffluent rich\u201d used a number of times. That seems redundant to me. Some other redundant phrases I\u2019ve heard include: repeat again, revert back, proceed ahead, past history, honest truth, different varieties, and also \u2014 just to name a few. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did a little extensive research and found that the use of more words (or even word parts) than necessary to express an idea clearly is known as pleonasm<\/em>. I would say that the use of redundant terms fall into that category. Another term or concept that I uncovered is \u201crhetorical tautology\u201d that is essentially the same thing said more than once in different words \u2014 e.g., cold ice or burning fire. As usual, there\u2019s no point to all this, my mind just wandered over to how strange, and sometimes stupid our language is \u2014 like when we use terms or descriptions such as hopelessly optimistic, Hell\u2019s Angels, half true, bankrupt millionaire, jumbo shrimp, sanitary landfill or pretty ugly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n These types of expressions are referred to as oxymorons \u2014 that\u2019s when two incompatible words are used together in one expression. And while we\u2019re on the subject, the correct plural of oxymoron is oxymora. But we continue to hear and use these expressions every day\u2026 we even turn a blind eye when they are as ridiculous as “House Ethics Committee.” A few days ago, Claire said she was going to Costco later in the week and one of things she wanted to get was tuna fish. I\u2019m not sure why, but it occurred to me when she said it, that … Continue reading
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