
Pet Peeves—A Tautology I Hate With the Passion of a Thousand Suns
Yes, I have pet peeves. Yes, among them are certain tautologies. Some of them are like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Let me say more.
Tautologies phrases where you say the same thing twice. We use them all the time and usually it’s not an issue for me. I’m as guilty as anybody of using them. That said, there is one that drives me up a fucking wall. I hear it all the time and my family is getting used to me banging me head on a table when I hear it. There’s usually shrieking and foot stomping too. Yes, sometimes I’m a child.
My dad was one of those guys who would start yelling at the TV when the news reported on politicians he hated. I, apparently, do the same thing for this one particular turn of phrase. I’ll tell you what it is in just a minute, because first I want you to think about any phrases (aside from the word moist, which is really a perfectly legitimate word and I really don’t get why so many people hate it. I think it’s because they have very good imaginations and mind’s eyes).
- Anyhow, back to examples. And feel free to share any you can think of.
- Stand up (stand implies up, so why say up at all?)
- Sit down (same as above. You say Sit up when a dog sits up because it’s outside of expectation).
- Think about other up and down phrases: lay down, drink down…
- Completely done (Again, done implies completely so why say it?)
- Totally undone (seeing a pattern? any undone is total. Same as being partially pregnant makes no sense. You are or you aren’t. Why say totally pregnant?
- free gift (pretty obvious there)
Now there are good reasons to use tautologies on occasion. You might use them for emphasis, for instance. Stylistically, your prose is stronger without them because you’re not cluttering up (there’s one there–cluttering doesn’t need up) your writing.
All right. Ready for my most hated tautology? The one that makes me scream? I don’t correct people, but I do wince and judge. You should know that. Okay, here goes:
Thought to myself. She thought to herself. He thought to himself.
Unless you’re telepathic, you can’t think to anybody else. It’s not possible. OMG writing those made me itchy and knotted my stomach. Why am I so sensitive to that one? ARGH.
Did you think of some tautologies that annoy you? What are they? Share in the comments.