Pimp my English | Eliminating tautology

By Anna Malczyk
Sometimes, when we want to make sure we get our meaning across, we repeat ourselves. However, in most cases, this is unnecessary – and at worst, it can make you sound patronising. Here are some tips for eliminating tautology from your writing.

What is tautology?
A tautology is a phrase in which a single idea is repeated unnecessarily. In other words, the same thing is said in more than one way without a reason. For example:
•    She reversed backwards.
•    The widow woman wore black.
•    The round sphere was blue.
Reversing implies moving backwards, so the addition of the word “backwards” adds nothing and is redundant. A widow is always a woman, so there is no need to add this. A sphere, by definition, is round.

Identifying tautology
Words in English often carry certain implied qualities with them. Like we saw above, the word “sphere” already means “round ball”. Adding the word “round” to sphere is the same as saying “round round ball” (which is obviously unnecessary).
A word has an implied quality if it is assumed that it always has that quality. Water is always wet, rubies are always red and so on.

Eliminating tautology
The only real way to eliminate tautology from your writing is to think carefully about the meanings of individual words. Tautologies are often created when you add an adjective (a describing word) to a noun, or you use two adjectives with the same meaning. For example:
•    Black raven (ravens are always black)
•    Crimson red car (crimson and red both mean the same thing)
So, when you want to add an adjective, ask yourself if its meaning is already communicated in the noun itself or in another adjective. There’s no special trick here – it’s just a matter of knowing the precise meanings of certain words.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.