Inliterary criticism andrhetoric, atautology is a statement that repeats an idea using near-synonymousmorphemes, words or phrases, effectively "saying the same thing twice".[1][2] Tautology andpleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature.[3] Like pleonasm, tautology is often considered a fault ofstyle when unintentional. Intentional repetition may emphasize a thought or help the listener or reader understand a point.[4] Sometimeslogical tautologies like "Boys will be boys" are conflated with language tautologies, but a language tautology is not inherently true, while a logical tautology always is.[4]
The word was coined inKoine Greek fromταὐτός ('the same') plusλόγος ('word' or 'idea'), and transmitted through 3rd-century Latintautologia and Frenchtautologie. It first appeared in English in the 16th century. The use of the termlogical tautology was introduced in English byWittgenstein in 1919, perhaps followingAuguste Comte's usage in 1835.[5]
"After we change the game it won't remain the same." from theBlackalicious song "Blazing Arrow"
"That tautological statement has repeated an idea."
"There once was a fellow from Perth Who was born on the day of his birth. He got married, they say On his wife's wedding day, And died when he quitted the earth."
"...Aforget-me-not, to remind me to remember not to forget." from theBenny Hill song "My Garden of Love"
"Assless chaps" –chaps by definition areseparate leg-coverings; a similar garment joined at the seat would instead be called a pair oftrousers.
"...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute" (and if they have not died, then they are still alive today), traditional German formula to end a fairy tale (like "they lived happily ever after").
"Former alumni" – alumni means those who are former members of an institution, group, school etc.
"Wandering planet" – the wordplanet comes from the Greek word'πλανήτης (planḗtēs), which itself means "wanderer".
"If you know, you know", a common English phrase.
"A pair of two"; by its nature, a pair is two items, so "a pair of two" is redundant.
"What's for you won't go by you", a Scottish proverb that is tautological
"Örökrangadó derby", the name of a football match contested betweenMTK Budapest andFerencváros in Hungary. The name literally translates as "Derby Derby" in Hungarian.
"Overexaggerate." An exaggeration is an overstatement, so theover is implied. To "overexaggerate" something means to "over-overstate" it.
"Illegal trafficking", a common description of human trafficking, which is already a violation of several local and national laws as well as international law.
"Illegalannexation" - under international law, claiming another country's land as your own is an illegal act (e.g. the common Western phrase "Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014").
"People die if they are killed", an infamous mistranslated quote from the 2006Fate/stay night anime.
Intentional repetition of meaning intends to amplify or emphasize a particular, usually significant fact about what is being discussed. For example, agift is, by definition, free of charge; using the phrase "free gift" might emphasize that there are no hidden conditions orfine print (such as the expectation of money or reciprocation) or that the gift is being given byvolition.
This is related to therhetorical device ofhendiadys, where one concept is expressed through the use of two descriptive words or phrases: for example, using "goblets and gold" to mean wealth, or "this day and age" to refer to the present time. Superficially, these expressions may seem tautological, but they are stylistically sound because the repeated meaning is just a way to emphasize the same idea.
The use of tautologies, however, is usually unintentional. For example, the phrases "mental telepathy", "planned conspiracies", and "small dwarfs" imply that there are such things as physical telepathy, spontaneous conspiracies, and giant dwarfs, which areoxymorons.[8]
Parallelism is not tautology, but rather a particular stylistic device. MuchOld Testament poetry is based on parallelism: the same thing said twice, but in slightly different ways (Fowler describes this aspleonasm).[1] However, modern biblical study emphasizes that there are subtle distinctions and developments between the two lines, such that they are usually not truly the "same thing". Parallelism can be found wherever there is poetry in the Bible:Psalms, theBooks of the Prophets, and in other areas as well.
