"Common Tautologies That Project Less Class"
"First, what is a tautology? It is to use two or more words with the same meanings, which in polite society indicates a deficiency in education and class.
Many people who use clichéd tautologies think they sound intellectual. But to the discerning, they appear common.
There is nothing like a future plan. That is bad English, but too many people, including well-educated ones, use it. Every plan is focused on the future. It is impossible to plan the past. You can only learn from it. Therefore, to say you have a future plan is a tautology. And to talk about your plans for the future makes you seem less knowledgeable than you may actually be.
Similarly, there is no such thing as a regular routine. A routine is by its very nature, something you do regularly. You can say daily routine or just routine. That is grammatical and commonsensical. When you qualify routine with words like daily, weekly, etc, you are describing the regularity of the rhythm, which is acceptable.
Also, the use of exact same is repetitive and incongruent to English grammar. Exact and same have identical meanings. They should be used interchangeably, not consecutively.
Saying my personal favourite is another common usage that is unnecessary. My favourite will suffice. You cannot have a favourite that is not personal to you, except you are referring to another person's choice.
Another combination of words that can confuse is saying things like, I gave them two two each. You could say I gave it to them in twos, or I gave them two each. Either of these conveys a better meaning for what you are trying to say.
And it is unnecessary to use the term write down or write it down. The use of down is not needed. Please can you write your number will suffice and is more accurate than please can you write your number down or could you please write down your number? Think about it for a second. Do people write their numbers, or anything for that matter, up?
Also, when you use the term close proximity to describe distance, you are needlessly repeating two words that convey the same meaning. You could say my house is close. Or you may want to indicate that my house is within proximity. But it is an overkill to say my house is within close proximity.
Also, religious persons like to say heaven above. The thing is that heaven is always above. Therefore, the above is unnecessary.
Additionally, when correcting people, especially alarmists, you do not need to say that they over-exaggerate. Exaggerate is sufficient. The term over exaggerate is itself an exaggeration. You are, in effect, guilty of what you accuse the person you are scolding of doing.
And when you say first and foremost, you sound verbose. Either of the two would suffice. For example, you can say first, I was not there. You could also say it is foremost to note that I was not there. But to say first and foremost is to add to what is already sufficient. And the more intelligent you are, the more meaning you convey with fewer words.
Another common tautology is unite together. To unite is to come together. Therefore, it is only necessary to say let us unite. However, if that is too plain for you, you may want to say let us come together.
I do hope these examples have helped you understand some ways by which we can communicate better. My motivation for this is Yeshua (Jesus). While on Earth, He spoke in common diction. He used everyday words. It was easy to understand him because he avoided highfalutin language.
True intelligence, in my opinion, is communicated using the simplest form of speech. Because the purpose of speaking is to communicate, not to impress."-Reno Omokri's post on X-platform (2024).
269.
No comments:
Post a Comment