Tautologically superfluous redundancy

Hi there!

It’s time for yet another article on language use.

Today, let’s discuss …

?…?REDUNDANCY?of expression.

?

In fact, let’s discuss …

?… tautologically superfluous?REDUNDANCY.

Theory:?REDUNDANCY

T-a-u-t-o-l-o-g-i-c-a-l-l-y?s-u-p-e-r-f-l-u-o-u-s?r-e-d-u-n-d-a-n-c-y!

Wow! Big words!?

Redundancy, as many of you know in the context of systems built to offer high availability, refers to something ??e?x?t?r?a? that exists ?a?d?d?i?t?i?o?n?a?l?l?y?? in excess of what is just required. In some technical contexts,?redundancy?is justified because?redundant?resources are purposefully designed and built as a backup so that if and when a primary system fails, the backup can take over.

Redundancy?can also exist in our use of language, and our use of?redundant?expressions in?English?is not always conscious or purposeful.

(Why) is it a problem?

Is?redundancy?always a problem?

No, no, no!?Redundancy?is not?always?a problem, but only when it is used unconsciously and purposelessly. (Yes, you can use?redundancy?consciously and purposefully in language for reinforcement and/or rhetorical effect, but let’s keep that discussion for another day.)

When we use?redundant?expressions unconsciously??a?n?d? ?w?i?t?h?o?u?t? ?a?w?a?r?e?n?e?s?s? , we make our speech or writing unnecessarily heavy. When we habitually use more words than are required, our language becomes difficult to process and???c?u?m?b?e?r?s?o?m?e? ?t?o?? comprehend.

Too many words might not be a problem, but too many words to convey too little cannot be an efficient design, you will agree! That alone should be sufficient???e?n?o?u?g?h?? reason for us to become aware of?redundant?expressions and minimize using them unconsciously.

Redundancy: categories

Theory aside, we can think of?redundant?expressions in terms of the following broad categories: repetition, rephrasing, restating, and fillers.

• REPETITION of words and phrases

Example:?“No, no, no!” from the preceding section where one “No” would have been sufficient.

In this case, however, it may be justified because I used it consciously for both reinforcement and rhetorical effect.

• REPHRASING an idea in other words and phrases

Example:?“When you run the program, it encounters an error at run time.”

Here, “at run time” is just a rephrase of the idea in “when you run the program.”

• RESTATING an idea in terms of its opposite or alternative ideas

Example:?“Oh, I totally forgot. It slipped my mind. I didn’t remember. You could’ve reminded me.”

“I didn’t remember” is just “I totally forgot” expressed in terms of its opposite (forgetting vs. remembering), and “It slipped my mind” and “You could’ve reminded me” are just alternative ways to express the same idea, which is “I totally forgot.” Come to think of it, even the word “totally” is arguably?redundant.

• FILLERS, which can be removed without affecting the intended meaning

Example:?“Hello! Good afternoon, everyone. So, my name is Vijay.”

In spoken language, we tend to use many words and phrases such as the word “So” in the preceding example to fill in the gaps in our flow. As an unconscious effect, this tendency also becomes a?language habit?over time, which then creeps into our written language, as well. To a certain extent, such fillers are understandable, even unavoidable, in speech, but we must strive to minimize them in our writing, in the interest of efficient communication.

Examples

Here are???j?u?s?t?? a few examples of?redundant?expressions to give you an idea of what kinds of things to look for:

Note:?Some of you might have caught on by now, but if you haven’t, do also notice the words and phrases with the strikethrough effect.

• Return back:???A?c?t?u?a?l?l?y? , the word “return” already implies a turning?back.
• Repeat again:???B?a?s?i?c?a?l?l?y? , the word “repeat” itself contains the sense of doing?again.
• Forward progress:?The word “progress,”???y?o?u? ?k?n?o?w? ,?means?forward movement, as against “regress.” (That way, “backward regression” is also?redundant, ??a?s? ?w?e?l?l? .)
• Round circle:?A circle,???I? ?m?e?a?n? , by definition, cannot be anything but round, can it?
• PIN number:?That expands into???t?h?e? ?e?x?p?a?n?s?i?o?n?? “Personal Identification Number number.”
• PDF format:???E?x?a?c?t?? same concept! “Portable Document Format format”
• Passed dynamically at run time:?Passed either “dynamically” or “??p?a?s?s?e?d?? at run time”
• Independent freelancer:?The “free” in “freelancer”???o?b?v?i?o?u?s?l?y?? points to the sense of “independent.”
• Advanced pre-planning:?The word “plan”?means?thinking, designing, and arranging?in advance, so even the “pre-“ part might???p?e?r?h?a?p?s?? be?redundant.
• Most perfect:?Something is either perfect or isn’t, so the word “most” doesn’t???r?e?a?l?l?y?? add anything to “perfect.”

What about “TAUTOLOGICALLY” and “SUPERFLUOUS”?

Ha! Well, pardon my poor sense of?humor, but that was just my attempt at a funny, meta-level demonstration of?redundancy.?

Loosely speaking, the words “tautological” and “superfluous” also mean “redundant,” so “tautologically superfluous?redundancy,” heavy with such words, might?sound?eloquent but just translates into …

?… “redundantly?redundant?redundancy.”

Doesn’t that sound absurd?

Exactly my point!

:)

p.s.: By the way, let me quick shift gears briefly from the verbal to the visual: Did you notice the redundancy in the banner image right at the top? But then, given that it is meant to illustrate the topic of redundancy itself, is it justified by the context, or do you think that it is still redundant?