Pleonasms or Tautological Redundancies

(avoid redundancies or excessive repetitiousness by not using unnecessary repetitions and superfluous words or more word usages than is needed, desired, or required)

The use of pleonasms results in a superfluity of words, sometimes deliberately, for emphasis; or the unnecessary repetitions resulting from a lack of the realization that such terms are redundant.

A tautological statement, sentence, etc. repeats its meaning in an unnecessary or excessive way by using different words to say the same thing.

* The pleonasms followed by an asterisk (*) came from an essay, "The Affluent Rich"; by Nat Boynton in his book, Media Rare. My special thanks to Mr. Jerry Gordon for contributing a copy of the essay so I could go through it and pick out the "UR's" (Unnecessary Redundancies) or pleonasms.

Please contribute any pleonasms you may come across from any of the media and let's make this list even more significant as it expands. You may send your suggestion, or suggestions, to e-mail contact or use this e-mail address: [email protected]

long litany

long-chronic illness

lots of ample parking

Advertisement heard on a radio: "Come on down! We have lots of ample parking!"

major breakthrough

malignant cancer (s) (noun), malignant cancers (pl)

A condition in which a disease or ailment is growing worse and resisting treatment: Mary's malignant cancer was diagnosed and there was no doubt that it would cause her death in a short time because no medical treatment was successful.

manually by hand

many frequent

marital spouse

May I ask you a question?

Wouldn't it be better to say: "May I ask you something?"
-From an anonymous contributer.

may possibly or might possibly

meandering back and forth and all around *

mental thought

merge together

mesa table

microdot

Also see the unit of pleio-, plio- words meaning, "more, most; excessive; multiple".