I Confess that I’ve only been aware of the term tautology for a few years. It was introduced to me as a comment on my own writing. I have the impression though that a tautology is something that states the obvious not something that is merely redundant. I for instance, think of the Paul Wellstone quote “we all do better when we all do better“ as a tautology that conveys meaning. My thought is that tautology can be a useful tool, whereas redundancy rarely is.
I do, however like “close proximity“ better as a descriptor, than “near miss“.
You make good points. I would, however, say that redundancy expertly used can be valuable. You’ve nailed both definitions—the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g., they arrived one after the other in succession). And a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form.
"all logical propositions are reducible to either tautologies or contradictions"
Guilty as charged, I'm sure. Nice reminders. Hopefully, I will not be able to unsee mine in the future. Many common phrases are tautological, so I blame people who talk too much for spreading the disease.
Sometimes I dismiss Grammarly's underlining of "own" to piss it off, especially when it underlines all my instances of "really."
I laughed out loud at the comment about Grammarly. I’m not convinced the bots care what we think. Except that more and more, they grovel and apologize when I point out their hallucinations.
BTW, I don’t necessarily object to the word “own” for clarity or emphasis. Used judiciously, it can be effective. “Really” is another thing altogether. :)
In Canada, journalists are sometimes guilty of saying "the NDP Party"- the acronym stands for New Democratic Party, so the use of "party" is redundant in this case.
Fabulous…and delightful to read.
Say what?
I Confess that I’ve only been aware of the term tautology for a few years. It was introduced to me as a comment on my own writing. I have the impression though that a tautology is something that states the obvious not something that is merely redundant. I for instance, think of the Paul Wellstone quote “we all do better when we all do better“ as a tautology that conveys meaning. My thought is that tautology can be a useful tool, whereas redundancy rarely is.
I do, however like “close proximity“ better as a descriptor, than “near miss“.
And why is “near miss” so often used, when “near hit” seems closer to the truth?
You make good points. I would, however, say that redundancy expertly used can be valuable. You’ve nailed both definitions—the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (e.g., they arrived one after the other in succession). And a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form.
"all logical propositions are reducible to either tautologies or contradictions"
Great comment!
Excellent advice from Malky - I've started trimming some out, but I still have a way to go.
Guilty as charged, I'm sure. Nice reminders. Hopefully, I will not be able to unsee mine in the future. Many common phrases are tautological, so I blame people who talk too much for spreading the disease.
Sometimes I dismiss Grammarly's underlining of "own" to piss it off, especially when it underlines all my instances of "really."
I laughed out loud at the comment about Grammarly. I’m not convinced the bots care what we think. Except that more and more, they grovel and apologize when I point out their hallucinations.
BTW, I don’t necessarily object to the word “own” for clarity or emphasis. Used judiciously, it can be effective. “Really” is another thing altogether. :)
Really? 😀
Great Stuff!! I love the removal of "own" or using it in a better format when writing. Really insightful. Thanks for the great content. David
All credit goes to the writer, my good friend Malky McEwan. He is an amazing writer.
Good advice here- it's helpful to know this.
In Canada, journalists are sometimes guilty of saying "the NDP Party"- the acronym stands for New Democratic Party, so the use of "party" is redundant in this case.
We all do that kind of thing a lot—there’s so much alphabet soup in life that we can’t keep up with what it all stands for :)