Redundancies ..

Redundant Phrases â?" Pleonasms

How often have you heard a friend say something like this: "It was an unexpected surprise when a pair of baby twins was born at 12 midnight"? What is a surprise if not unexpected? What are twins if not a pair? Who can be born but a baby? When is midnight if not at 12? The expressions we use are full of redundancy. Your friend could just as well have said: "It was a surprise when twins were born at midnight" with far less repetition.
Many stores try to tempt us with free gifts, but how could a gift be anything but free? You would surely feel it to be an unfair use of the word "gift" if you were to be charged for it!

These redundant expressions are called pleonasms. Some common ones are in the list below. Remove the superfluous words (in brackets) and you will not subtract from the overall meaning of the expression.


(actual) experience
(advance) planning
(advance) reservations
(advance) warning
all meet (together)
(armed) gunman
at (12) midnight
at (12) noon
autobiography (of my life)
(awkward) predicament
(baby) boy was born
(basic) fundamentals
cease (and desist)
cheap (price)
(close) proximity
cold (temperature)
commute (back and forth)
consensus (of opinion)
(difficult) dilemma
each (and every)
(empty) space
(end) result
estimated (roughly) at
filled (to capacity)
(free) gift
(frozen) ice
(general) public
green (in color)
join (together)
(natural) instinct
never (at any time)
(null and) void
(pair of) twins
(past) experience
(poisonous) venom
(pre-)recorded
reason is (because)
(regular) routine
(small) speck
(suddenly) exploded
surrounded (on all sides)
(unexpected) surprise

(Collected by )CUP79

How come? I think "close proximity", "each and every" (this one is an entry in the definitive Oxford Dic.), "end result" are used so widely in all kinds of writing??? "End result" is extremely common, as is "each and every" (to emphasize).
Can you explain it a little further???
You hear that? That is the sound of inevitability...

Great topic, cup79, for this is a very common mistake that English learners often encounter and need to realise. Can you post some more examples so that we will be able to omit the redundant expression later? Is "but however/ but anyway" a redundancy? As far as I know, â?ohoweverâ? and â?oanywayâ? have already shown the contrast meaning, should "but" still be used?
Here come a few instances I found on the Internet:
- The dog raced swiftly down the soggy wet track after the heartless electronic hare. <--- As far as the dog goes, how many race other than swiftly? If the track is soggy, then we know it is wet, and how many electronic hares have hearts, anyway?
- Little Bo has lost her sheep and couldn''t tell where to find them.<-- If she knew where her sheep were, she wouldn''t say she had lost them.
- But they will come home wagging their tails behind them. <-- Can you find a tail on the head of animals?
And finally, I find this article rather interesting and may it help you cross out the redundancy, improving your writing skill. Let''s see how it appears within in sentences, paragraphs and stories.
Redundancy


There can be miracles when you believeThough hope is frail, it's hard to killWho knows what miracle you can achieveWhen you believe... somehow you willYou will when you believe....

Other redundant phrases:
repeat again
important essentials
come back again
the future to come
the final conclusion
cooperate together
---------------------------------------------
Gieo hành động, gặt một thói quen.
Gieo thói quen, gặt một tính cách.
Gieo tính cách, gặt một số phận.

Here is an entertaining selection of funny quotations from commentators, politicians, celebrities, newsreaders, TV presenters, and sportsmen around the world.
They are all pleonastic, containing superfluous, unnecessary words.
"And that''s a self-portrait of himself, by himself."
Richard Madeley

"Now we go into lap 53, the penultimate last lap but one."
Murray Walker

"It looks like being a busy weekend on the ferries, particularly Saturday and Sunday."
Peter Powell

"It was a sudden and unexpected surprise."
Old Bailey Correspondent for the BBC

"I never make predictions, especially about the future."
Samuel Goldwyn

"It''s deja vu all over again."
Yogi Berra

"Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined."
Samuel Goldwyn

"Sometimes you can observe a lot just by watching."
Yogi Berra

"If we do not succeed, we run the risk of failure."
Former Vice-President Dan Quayle

"They''ve written their own number â?" it''s an original number and it''s written by themselves."
Jenny Lee-Wright

"So the VAT [Tax] increase on a secondhand car is just another added ad***ion."
Adrian Love

"Just look at that [ice skating result]. Nine ''six'' marks, every one of them a ''six''."
Alan Weeks

"With a couple of minutes to go he had scored two goals in a two-minute period."
Alan Perry

"The answer''s an affirmative ''yes''."
Nigel Mansell

"I am speaking from a deserted and virtually empty Crucible Theatre."
David Vine

"With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go."
Murray Walker

"I don''t normally do requests, unless I''m asked to."
Richard Whiteley

"And there''s the Victoria Memorial, built as a memorial to Victoria."
David Dimbleby

"The robbery was committed by a pair of identical twins. Both are said to be aged about 20."
Paul Hollingsworth

"When large numbers of men are unable to find work, unemployment results."
Calvin Coolidge

"Trapped, like a trap in a trap."
Dorothy Parker

"Smoking can kill you, and if you''ve been killed, you''ve lost a very important part of your life."
Brooke Shields

"Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it''s so incredible, it''s unbelievable."
Tom Landry

Redundant Acronyms and Initialisms
Have you ever forgotten your PIN Number for the ATM Machine? Did you ever take SAT Tests? Does it annoy you when people use these acronym/initialism pleonasms?
The problem, of course, is that PIN means Personal Identification Number, so you don''t need to say "Number" afterwards. In fact, it''s quite wrong to do so, for what is a Personal Identification Number Number? It''s probably the telephone number you have to call if you have forgotten your PIN. (Does anyone know if there''s a PIN Number Number you can call if you forget the PIN Number?)
Most of us are guilty of making such errors at sometime or other: ISBN Number, ABS System, LCD Display... Here''s a list of common errors of this type. Watch out for your friends (and even people on TV) making these pleonastic mistakes.
%APR percentage Annual Percentage Rate
A.M. in the morning Ante Meridiem in the morning (lit. before noon in the morning)
ABM missile Antiballistic Missile missile
ABS system Antilock Braking System system
AC current Alternating Current current
ACT test American College Test test
ADSL line Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line line
APL programing
language A Programming Language programming language
ATM machine Automated Teller Machine machine
BASIC code Beginner''s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code code
CAD design Computer-Aided Design design
CNN news
network Cable News Network news network
DC current Direct Current current
DMZ zone Demilitarized Zone zone
DOS operating system Disk Operating System operating system
GMT time Greenwich Mean Time time
GOP party Grand Old Party party
GRE exam Graduate Record Examination examination
HIV virus Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus
HTML language Hypertext Markup Language language
ISBN number International Standard Book Number number
ISDN network Integrated Services Digital Network network
LAN network Local Area Network network
LCD display Liquid Crystal Display display
LED diode Light Emitting Diode diode
NATO organization North Atlantic Treaty Organization organization
PC Computer Personal Computer computer
PIN number Personal Identification Number number
Please RSVP please Répondez S''il Vous Plaît (lit. please reply please)
RAM memory Random-Access Memory memory
SAT test Scholastic Assessment (or Aptitude) Test test
SCSI interface Small Computer System Interface interface
UPC code Universal Product Code code
VIN number Vehicle Identification Number number
Được cup79 sửa chữa / chuyển vào 02:33 ngày 12/03/2004