Don’t you hate, abhor even, the use of each and every superfluous repetition? Me too. So to begin with, I want to start by making it completely and entirely clear what I mean by a redundant tautology is. I don’t want to repeat myself again, so at this point in time a short summary of exemplary instances should adequately suffice.

Tautologies are two a penny, commonplace even. Occasionally, they sometimes they crop up one after the other in succession. As an example, for instance — I’m not over-exaggerating — I make my future plans despite my past history while yearning for a single safe haven (preferably one in close proximity, not in the far distance). I’ve even heard — with my own ears! — people referring to: evening sunsets, new initiatives, dilapidated ruins, necessary requirements, temper tantrums, live survivors, free gifts, advance warnings, mutual consent and sad misfortunes.

Incredibly, it’s hard to believe that politicians and celebrities are also guilty of tautologies:

“It’s no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or another.” - George H. W. Bush

“You say potato, I say potatoe.”

“If we do not succeed, we run the risk of failure.” - Dan Quayle

“Smoking can kill you, and if you’ve been killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.” - Brooke Shields.

“They are simply going to have to score more points than the other team to win the game” - John Madden

“I want to live while I am alive” - Bon Jovi

“It’s deja vu all over again.” – Yogi Berra

“I yam what I yam!” - Popeye

Not to mention commonplace ad copy:

  • Enjoy your added bonus!

  • Please prepay in advance.

  • We’re giving away free tickets!

And the bane of grammarians, something that causes them great distress: tautologies in acronyms formed from the initial letters of other words:

DVD disc, GPS system, HIV virus, ISBN/PIN number, please R.S.V.P., UPC code, VIN number, ATM machine.

OK, enough is enough. Gotta run. Problem with the hot water heater. I think it’ll be OK once it’s fixed, but I never, ever, make predictions about the future.