A Free Gift
Did you ever ask yourself about “free gift” offers? Like, what other kinds of gifts are there? “I’ll give you this present, but you have to pay for it!” Seriously?
Let’s poke some fun at tautologies. What are tautologies? Very simply, a grammatical construction which unnecessarily duplicates a meaning. You’re saying something twice when you don’t need to do so. It’s something we all do, all the time. It’s saying the same thing twice, two times. Double. Redundantly. Oh, you get the point!
What marriage ceremony is complete without the officiant “joining together” the lovely couple? How else would one join them, other than together? Even in today’s permissive world.
“Repeat that again” you might say. Do you really mean, “Please say that again”, or “Please repeat that”, or are you actually asking me to repeat it twice over?
Journalists love to talk about “close proximity” and “final outcome”, as if there such a thing as a distant proximity, or perhaps a beginning outcome.
“Advance planning” is another fun tautology. Notwithstanding that we all try to do it, you can’t actually plan after the fact. “Brief summaries”, “true facts”, and “final conclusions” are all tautologies, although these all rattle off our tongues “each and every” day, if “past experience” is any guide.
The “general consensus” is that there is no “safe haven” for tautologies. And as an “added bonus”, that’s my “final conclusion”.
Wow! Now that’s going to mess with your day, isn’t it? But what fun you’re going to have with colleagues. Just tell them it’s a “new innovation”.