We've had some fun with oxymora recently, now let's enjoy the opposite of oxymora--the pleonasm.
A pleonasm is a redundant expression--using more words than necessary to communicate the idea (an oxymoron involves contrasting words, while a pleonasm consists of synonymous, and therefore redundant, words). Pleonasms are common in everyday spoken communication--something easy to overlook, but their presence in written work is unacceptable. Look for common pleonasms like those below in your writing:
mix together (you can't mix things apart can you?)
join together
gather together
jump up
fall down
rise up
descend down
absolutely necessary
absolutely essential
repeat again
return back
advance forward
little tiny
A.M. in the morning
anonymous stranger
advance planning
advance warning
boiling hot
close proximity
circulate around
completely blind (deaf, dead, destroyed, empty, full, unanimous)
component parts
constant nagging
definite decision
empty space
blank space
exact replica
free gift
freezing cold
frozen tundra
grand total
handwritten manuscript
individual person
invited guests
knowledgeable expert
major breakthrough
new discovery
original source
pair of twins
past tradition
personal friend
postponed until later
receded back
refer back
resulting effects
safe haven
safe sanctuary
sink down
sudden impulse
surrounded on all sides
sum total
top priority
utimate goal
unmarried bachelor
usual custom
vacillating back and forth
The following pleonasms endure, I suspect, because people are unaware that the word pair is synonymous:
aid and abet
cease and desist
vim and vigor
each and every
null and void
rest and relaxation
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A place to talk about words, writing, learning, and language, by Brian Wasko, founder of WriteAtHome.com
3 comments:
So that's what they're called!!
I noticed that some pleonasms are "lawyer-speak" -- meaning that they repeat ad nauseum (possibly to obscure (and obfuscate!) the meaning so that no one but a lawyer will understand them?!). Words like "vim" and "vigor" express subtly different meanings for me. "Vim" suggests overflowing with happiness. "Vigor" suggests health and physical vitality. These expressions may involve connotations that make them more descriptive. I'd love to hear your thoughts on choosing words to harness their deeper connotations! :)
Hmm, I'm not so sure about "repeat again".
I mean, you could say something, then repeat it, then repeat it again. In that case, it's not a pleonasm. And if it's not a pleonasm in that way, than it can never be a pleonasm, but either a third time doing something, or a grammatical error (as when you take it litterally you'd think it was the third time something was done, not the second time).
In the sense this expression is commonly (mis)used, it certainly is a pleonasm. In classes I teach, student regularly ask me to "repeat again" something have said only once. I like to reply, "But I haven't repeated it the first time!
Of course it's possible to use the expression literally, non-pleonastically, I suppose, but when someone says "repeat it again" and only means "repeat it," he has uttered a pleonasm.
Thanks for your response though!
Post a Comment