Slice of Life Story Challenge -Dealing With Double Trouble!

While reading Jeff Anderson’s excellent book, 'Ten Things A Writer NeedsTo Know' yesterday, I noticed that Jeff tells his students that tautology means ‘DOUBLE TROUBLE.’  This mention of tautology sparked a memory of how annoying it is to hear such redundancy used frequently and unknowingly. Well, annoying for me anyway.
Here are a few that immediately come to mind:
  • At the present time
  • Very unique
  • Mystery puzzle
  • Wet monsoon
  • Past history
  • Pair of twins
  • Free gift
  • Sad misfortune
  • Invited guests
  • End result
  • Boat marina
  • Will and testament
  • ATM machine
You get the idea…

Tautology occurs everywhere it seems. When I lived in America, the frequently used term, ‘TUNA FISH sandwich’ left me constantly bemused. At JFK airport, I would sit waiting for my flight home to Australia and at regular intervals I would hear the announcement, ‘This is the LAST and FINAL call for flight…’

In Australia, I frequently hear people offering an opinion and qualifying it with, ‘If you ask ME PERSONALLY, well I think…’ and I’m sure we don’t need to hear FINAL and SHOWDOWN alongside each other every time a sporting contest is promoted on television. I certainly don’t need to RETURN BACK to the program I am viewing! Tautology is rife on television.

Ah yes, it happens everywhere. Tautology is not strictly a figure of speech, but merely a commonly occurring error in speech and writing.  In writing, such redundancy is referred to as, pleonasm. I confess, I did not know that until I did some research. Well, whatever it is, it clearly annoys some of us more than others…

Comments

  1. LibraryDragon/Storykeeper3 March 2012 at 17:22

    Tautology is a new word for me. My favorite set of words annoy me is "Government paper reduction act" - I cringe when I read them. Your post made me smile. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan @ A Slice of My Life3 March 2012 at 19:17

    It's a new word for me as well. I have the sneaky feeling I'm going to be seeing tautologies (is that even correct?) everywhere now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jen3 March 2012 at 23:32

    I have to admit I wasn't annoyed by most of them until I came to "Last and final call..." and "return back to our show." I agree I'm going to see them everywhere and now I'll make sure not in my own writing ~ Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blink4 March 2012 at 01:54

    I have never heard this term. Thanks for the post! It happens so frequently, it makes me wonder if people are pre-disposed (redundant, I know) to expressing themselves this way.

    ReplyDelete
  5. elsie4 March 2012 at 04:52

    Oh great, now I have to watch my words to make sure I'm not doing that. Thanks for this interesting post and I agree, redundancy is annoying.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Megan Kate4 March 2012 at 07:56

    I'm reading Jeff Anderson's 'Mechanically Inclined' right now. I haven't heard of 'Ten Things a Writer Needs to Know' but I'll have to check it out! Tautology is also new to me, but I loved the examples you shared. I guess redundancy doesn't really annoy me too much, but it probably will now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wanda Brown4 March 2012 at 09:40

    I love this Alan. One of my favorites...hot water heater...we don't heat hot water:) Although I hear others say these things I know I am guilty as well. Many of them are passed down through generations. Your posts always leave me smiling:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wanda Brown4 March 2012 at 09:41

    I love this Alan. One of my favorites...hot water heater...we don't heat hot water:) Although I hear others say these things I know I am guilty as well. Many of them are passed down through generations. Your posts always leave me smiling:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. T-Dawg4 March 2012 at 09:46

    Good post! It's always bugged me when people say tuna-fish. Now I feel like someone understands!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sam Grumont4 March 2012 at 09:54

    Reading the comments made me realize that I ce across tautology when studying philosophy. Pat's very enthusiastic about your book.i'm also reading Jeff Anderson's 'Ten Things...'.

    ReplyDelete
  11. GirlGriot4 March 2012 at 11:26

    Oh Alan, I love this. I am probably guilty of some tautological missteps myself, but I do get annoyed when I see and hear them around me. Now I know I'm not alone!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Betsy Hubbard4 March 2012 at 11:59

    A new word! Thanks for the mini-lesson, complete with examples. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looking for the Write Words4 March 2012 at 13:33

    Alan,
    I enjoyed reading your entertaining and interesting post. ~ Theresa

    ReplyDelete
  14. Linda4 March 2012 at 14:25

    Uh,oh! I'm guilty of some of those! I was in Starbucks not long ago and after ordering a chai tea, the lady behind me said, "Chai is tea." I was a little embarrassed, but that's how I've always heard everyone order it. I still order it the same way! : )

    ReplyDelete
  15. Unknown4 March 2012 at 14:32

    Oh my, I'm so guilty of at least a few of those. Tuna fish - YIKES! Thanks for the lesson. I'll never say "free gift" again.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more