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The Mister came home for lunch yesterday and we atetuna on crackers. I teased him for calling it "tuna fish".
Turns out that this is a pleonasm ~ a redundant phrase.
After all, tuna IS a fish. We wouldn't say we were
eating "chicken poultry", would we?
Well, that got me thinking about a lot of redundant phrases
that many of us say without realizing it.
Here are a few...maybe you say some of these, too, and
didn't realize it! The redundant or unnecessary
part is in parenthesis.
- (free) gift
- (suddenly) exploded
- in this day (and age)
- (new) innovation
- (lonely) isolation
- (actual) experience
- (advance) warning
- surrounded (on all sides)
- (armed) gunman
- each (and every)
- (end) result
- (null and) void
- (past) experience
- (regular) routine
- (small) speck
- (unexpected) surprise
I laughed at 'armed gunman' the most. And I say 'unexpected surprise' and 'each and every' a lot. But I don't say 'tuna fish'. LOL!
love this post, betsy!! armed gunman got to me as well!
ReplyDeletethis isn't a pleonasm but my co-workers and i say "I'm a dismal failure" when we make a mistake at work. it's just a fun way to keep things light and airy.
enjoy your evening. it's wet and windy here in miamisburg!
Too funny! I say tuna fish too and several of the others also.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh. I've also heard, "(completely) finished", a lot. And "(over) and done. And I say "albacore"-LOL!
ReplyDeleteSubby ~ I've heard 'over and out' but never 'over and done'...funny!
ReplyDeleteAnd your new avatar...is that in honor of Halloween? It reminds me of Poltergeist!
And don't all moms say 'each and every'???
ReplyDeleteI want each and every piece of clothing into the laundry!
I want each and every pea eaten off of that plate!
etc. etc. LOL!
Ah, this was fun, I never knew about "Pleonasms".;) I learned something new today.;) I guess they are just used to signify the meaning of the word even more.;)
ReplyDeletexo
Yes, I eat chicken poultry and it is a lot different from KFC chicken. LOL
ReplyDeletepleonasm is a new one for me...though i have said them plenty of times.
ReplyDeletethose are funny -
ReplyDeletebut we Southerners do say Tuna Fish and I don't think most of them want to say it any other way.
this does not fit your definition, but the news is on here and the newscaster just introduced a segment by saying " this is a true story" I thought every report on the news is supposed to be a true story.
I always say "tuna fish"!!! And I think I say all of the others/lol
ReplyDeleteThese are so funny, Betsy. I never thought to think about it (did I just say something redundant?? Stupid???) ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love posts like this. Have a great week, Betsy!
xoxo
Jane
I always call them superfluous words when my hubby comes up with them. Thanks for that - pleonasm - I'll try to remember it!
ReplyDeleteGimme a tuna fish sandwich any day!
ReplyDeleteHere's a few I always use...
ReplyDeleteempty hole
pair of twins
personal friend
Fun post. I love this kind of wordy fun!
I love those. Hahaha. BUT what about chicken Fried Chicken? That one always gets me.
ReplyDeleteI don;t think this is actually a "pleonasm" but we were always corrected whenever anyone would dare say, "Almost dead!" Either you are or you aren't, right?!
ReplyDeleteI like this!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You know, I've heard people say *tuna fish* my entire life, but never really thought about how redundant that was:)
ReplyDeleteI've said many of those...
ReplyDeleteThe Tuna fish reminded me of our daughter when she was 8. We would put the school lunch menu on the refrig. Jill always said she hated fish. One day she looked at the menu and said "Yuck, fish sticks, I hate fish, Make me a tuna sandwich today. To her Tuna was not fish!!!
What a fun post.... Thanks
Count me in the "Guilty as charged" column!
ReplyDeleteHi Betsy..
ReplyDeletevery unique
is one that annoys me...
Happy days
Fun entry. I'm guilty of a lot of those...mostly 'tuna fish'. :)
ReplyDeletei'm also guilty of tuna fish...lol. i never thought of how redundant it is until now
ReplyDeleteWell, I say about 15 of those (without officially counting) including tuna fish!
ReplyDeleteNow with a little further thought, a man could be armed with something other than a gun, like a knife, so maybe armed gunman isn't always redundant.
ReplyDeleteKayren ~ I guess if you say 'gunman' that says it all. If you want to say armed, then just say "armed man" It's the armed and gun together that is redundant.
ReplyDeleteYou say tuna fish? I think a lot of people do! :)
There is no such thing as a 'free gift'. Usually, -well in my case anyway- if someone gives me a gift they expect something back, usually a BIG favour!
ReplyDeleteDidn't Charles Clore (millionaire) once say "There's no such thing as a free dinner!"
But I digress the statement.
On the bleach bottles it says; "Kills germs dead!".
Eh? ". .But I digress the statement. ."
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm getting too old for this game. I meant "But I digress. . .".
Keith ~ kills germs dead...ha-ha! That's a good one! I think I've seen 'Kills bugs dead', too!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites is "free publicity" -- as any marketing person knows, publicity is always free. If it's not free, it's an advertisement. :)
ReplyDeleteThe origin of the phrase "tuna fish" is from when food was first canned in America. Canned tuna was a big seller on both coasts, but sat unsold on the shelves in the Midwest and landlocked states, because no one away from the oceans knew what "tuna" was. So the canners started marking the cans "Tuna Fish" to let customers know what was inside. You can tell where people's ancestors settled by whether they say "tuna" or "tuna fish".
ReplyDeleteGolden West ~ that is very fascinating...I never knew! Thanks for sharing that tidbit of information! :)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of tuna, Did you read that the main industry in the American Somao Islands was destryed by teh typhoon? It was King of the Sea's processing plant! Who would ahve guessed it.
ReplyDelete