the part of – by
owing to the fact that – because
pink/purple/puce, etc in colour – pink/purple/puce, etc
prior to – before
provide a contribution to – contribute to/help
regardless of the fact that – although
subsequent to – after
there can be little doubt that – no doubt, clearly
there is a possibility that – possibly/perhaps
to the best of my knowledge and belief – as far as I know/I believe
until such time as – until
with a view to – to
with reference to – about
with regard to – about
with respect to – about/concerning
with the exception of – except
People prone to pompous long-windedness can be gently reminded of their sins by quoting to them a well-known nursery rhyme rewritten in circumlocutory style:
Observe repeatedly the precipitate progress of a trio of sightless rodents: together they coursed apace on the heels of the agriculturalist’s consort, who summarily disjoined their caudal appendages with a cutler’s handiwork. One had never witnessed such mirth in one’s existence as the incident involving those hemeralopic and nyctalopic mammals.
The rhyme is, of course, Three Blind Mice.
An utterly unique added extra: Tautology
Mr and Mrs David Smith are proud to announce the birth of a baby girl, Sarah Anne.
Now, like ‘Dog Bites Man’, this isn’t really news. But what if Mrs Smith had given birth to an adult girl? That would be news! Obviously Mrs Smith had given birth to a baby; it happens all the time. The newsy bit is that it was a girl.
The use of the word baby here is what is known as pleonasm, the use of redundant words. The same would apply if Mrs Smith invited the neighbours in to see her ‘new baby’. Are there any old babies? Of course all babies are new!
When a word repeats the meaning of another word in the same phrase it is called tautology and, usually, all verbal superfluities are known by this term.
Free gift! Added extra! Added bonus! These are exciting claims. And also wasted words: classic examples of tautology, the use of more than one word to convey the same thought.
A gift, if not free, is not a gift – except perhaps in the slang usage, ‘That car was an absolute gift at £6,000’.
Something extra is clearly something added. And a bonus is normally an addition. Even if the word is used to describe something apart from money, an added bonus is an added addition. Nonsense, obviously. Yet we hear and read phrases such as added bonus every day, from people who have not thought what they are saying or writing, or do not care.
So accustomed are we to tautology in everyday speech and reading that this form of language misuse can pass unnoticed:
Will David’s income be sufficient enough for you both?
How many of us would normally detect that enough is a wasted word?
Avoiding redundant words and expressions is a sign of a caring writer and here, to help you, is an A to Z of some of the more common superfluities.
An A to Z of Tautology
absolute certainty
actual facts (and its cousin, true facts)
added bonus/extra
adequate/sufficient enough
a downward plunge
advance warning
appear on the scene
arid desert
attach together
audible click
burn down, burnt up (burn and burnt by themselves are usually better)
circle round, around
collaborate together
connect together
consensus of opinion (it’s simply consensus)
couple together
crisis situation
divide it up, divide off
each and every one
early beginnings
eat up
enclosed herewith, enclosed herein
end result
file away
final completion
final upshot
follow after
forward planning
free gift
funeral obsequies
future prospects
gather together
gale force winds
general consensus
grateful thanks
