Silly tautologies (part 2)

When I'm feeling lazy I often use stuff left-over from a previous blog post in a follow up post, and this week is one of those weeks as I take another look at silly tautologies!

In summary, I've summarised the report in a short
summary comprising these five volumes.

As fans of tautologies will know, a tautology is when you use needless repetition of a word or phrase in an unnecessarily repetitive manner.

Here are a few more examples...

1) Short summary

A short summary? Surely all summaries are short?

If it was a long summary then it wouldn't be a summary!

2) Tiny speck of paint

This is one which always seems unnecessary because all specks are tiny! There's no such thing as a massive speck!

For example, you wouldn't say to someone, "You've got an enormous speck of paint all over your face!" You would just say, "You've got paint all over your face!"

So I think it's safe to conclude that the 'tiny' is unnecessary.

A trusting ATM user poses for a photo while entering their PIN.

3) PIN number

PIN stands for Personal Identification Number, so a PIN number would be your Personal Identification Number number.

4) ATM machine

Similarly, ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, so an ATM machine would be an Automated Teller Machine machine.

A patient receives intensive care in a field.

5) Intensive care in hospital

A recent local news report stated that someone was 'receiving intensive care in hospital'.

Did they really need to clarify that the intensive care was being received 'in hospital'? I mean, where else do you receive intensive care!? In the park? On the beach? In your local supermarket? In a field?

6) Repeat again

'Repeat' means to do something again. You don't need to clarify 'again'. The 'again' part is implied by the word 'repeat'.

The Sahara Desert, pictured yesterday.

For example, imagine saying to someone, 'Repeat that for the first time'. It wouldn't make sense! They'd think you were an idiot! And they'd be right!

7) Sahara Desert

Finally, the Arabic word for desert is 'sahara', so the Sahara Desert is the desert desert!

You can find more silly tautologies in my original blog post:
Silly tautologies