They are tautologies.Oneof the words is sufficient. Equally
absurd are the following:
A round circle A circle is, of course, round.
An unexpected surprise. A surprise has to be unexpected.
An old antique picture. You can hardly have anew
antique!
A three-cornered Of course a triangle is
triangle. three-cornered.
Looking back in ‘Looking back’ is the same as
retrospect. ‘in retrospect’.
Future outlook. An outlook always looks to the
future.
New innovation. An innovationisnew.
Final completion. A completion has to be final.Look at the following sentences and note the obvious tau-
tologies:
The first chapter started the book.
The students received the prizes one after the other in
succession.The applause was deafening as every member of the
audience clapped loudly.Avoiding malapropisms
In Sheridan’s playThe Rivalshis character, Mrs Malaprop,
loved the sound of long words. Unfortunately she was never
sure of their meaning and consequently often used the wrong
one. She has given her name to the misuse of words.
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