THE WRITING PROCESS: Redundancy & Tautology

frieda (60)in #steemiteducation • 6 years ago (edited)

Redundancy is usually defined as the use of two or more words that say the same thing. We also use the term to refer to any expression in which a modifier's meaning is contained in the word it modifies. Think of redundancy as word overflows.

http://grammarist.com/redundancies/

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Redundancy and Tautology

Avoid superfluous and unnecessary words or statements.

Example:

Give your personal opinion. (if it is your opinion, then it is personal)
She was tired and exhausted after the event. ( both of these mean the same)
She said it over and over again, time after time. (repetition of words)

Tautology

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More examples of two or more words that say the same thing:

Each and Every: Both are synonyms.
Browse Through: To browse is to look through something, 'through' is already contained in its meaning.
Blatantly obvious: Things that are blatant are obvious.
Close proximity: Use close to or in proximity. To be in proximity to something is to be close to it.
American-born, South-African-born, Mexican-born: Rather America-born, South-Africa-born, Mexico-born; or, American, South-African or Mexican.
Adequate enough: Adequate or enough, one or the other will work.
Within an arm's reach: Within an arm's length or within reach.
Combine together: When you combine something, it is to bring multiple things together.
Excessive verbiage: Verbiage is an excess of words.
False pretense and false pretenses: By definition, pretenses are false.
Few in number: Few always refer to words.
Free gift: If the gift is not free then it is not a free gift.
Future plans: All plans pertaining to the future.
Past experience: All experience is in the past.
Historic milestone: By definition a milestone is historic.
Mental attitude: Can an attitude anything be than mental?
Current status quo: The status quo is the current state of affairs.
Just exactly: Exactly means precisely or in all respects, one definition of just is precise.
Join together: Things that join only do so together.
There are many more examples, see if you can add to the list!

Verbosity

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Verbose

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Verbosity or verboseness is speech or writing that uses more words than necessary (for example, using "Despite the fact that" instead of "Although"). The opposite of verbosity is plain language. Some teachers, including the author of The Elements of Style, warn writers not to be verbose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbosity

Avoid the use of too many words when the same idea could be stated simply and clearly.

You need to apply yourself diligently and conscientiously to the studying of your work for the forthcoming exams.
Instead, say:
You need to work diligently for these exams.

Unnecessary 'Big Words'

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Ambiguity

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Avoid words that you do not understand as their use may lead to ***malapropisms

Offenders will be persecuted. The right word is: prosecuted.
John told James that his brother had arrived. (Whose brother had arrived - James's or John's?)

Numerals

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Generally, numbers should be written in words unless you are writing the date, a monetary amount or an instruction. e.g. Proceed to Gate 3. I have six dogs.