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The tautology-hater's home page

Posted January 1st, 2005 by paul

3 December 1999:
Tautologies have been peeving me so much this week, i thought i'd write this page about them.  Here are some common tautologies that irritate me (and probably you as well, if you're reading this! :-).  Submissions gratefully accepted - please contact me, or add your comment below.

Commonly-spoken phrase Correct phrase
3 am in the morning 3 o'clock in the morning, or 3 am
ATM Machine  ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) 
PIN number  PIN (Personal Identification Number) 
LUN number  LUN (Logical Unit Number) 
GUI interface  GUI (Graphical User Interface) 
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My first submission!

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

14 January 2000:
Sam Krupsky came up with this blinder:

I once had a triple tautology! A basketball coach said, "It's your attitude! It all boils down to mental thinking in the mind."

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Big day at work with tautologies!

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

31 August 2000:
More fodder for my list:

Incorrect Correct
CBT Training CBT (Computer-Based Training)
FBT Tax FBT (Fringe Benefits Tax)
PCB Board PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
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Here's one i didn't pick up...

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

15 September 2000:

Incorrect Correct
CRC Check CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)
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More fodder

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

25 September 2000

Incorrect Correct
NIC Card NIC (Network Interface Card)
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An interesting one

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

Here's one pointed out to me by a work colleague: home economics.

The English word economics doesn't actually have any financial inference in its root meaning. It originally meant, "The science of household affairs, or of domestic management" (from dictionary.com). It comes from two Hellenistic Greek words: oikos, meaning home or household, and nomos, meaning law or rule. Thus "home economics" is actually "home home rule"! :-)

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After a long hiatus, a beauty thanks to HP!

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

25 April 2003:

Incorrect Correct
HBA Adapter HBA (Host Bus Adapter)
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I couldn't agree more!

On January 1st, 2005 paul says:

29 July 2003:

Another contribution:

Dynamically changing ... grrrr drives me NUTS!

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Some more that have been languishing in my Inbox

On March 3rd, 2005 paul says:

09 August 2003:
Hi, I recently completed training as a police officer at the New South Wales Police Academy, in Goulburn. I got sick of listening to lecturers repeating themselves. After a little searching I stumbled on these wonderful things called tautologies, and hence, started to collect them. These may or may not be pure tautoloties, but I enjoyed them anyway.

Graham Tinworth

Form a perimiter around the outside.
Descend downwards.
Ascend upwards.
Exactly Identical.
Move sideways in a lateral plane.
Observer Looking.
Close Proximity.
Reverse Backwards.
Simultaneously at the same time.
Small Minority.
Old Antiques.
Duplicate Copy.
Re-repeat.
Inserted In.
Fake Imitation.
Round Circle.
Repeatedly Reoccurring.
Alone by yourself.
A fellow Peer.

(I'm not sure that "close proximity" and "small minority" really qualify, but i'm not picky.)

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Tautology's definition of itself?

On March 3rd, 2005 paul says:

02 March 2004:
Mike Morgan writes:

I once heard this definition of tautology: "Repeating the same thing twice."

Aaaaaaaaaargh!

I'd love to think it was tongue-in-cheek, but it was said with such
sincerity that I'll never be sure!

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More from Mike Morgan

On March 3rd, 2005 paul says:

02 March 2004:
I remembered one of my "hate favourites"...
Mike Oldfield (of Tubular Bells fame) had a song called "Moonlight Shadow" on one of his albums. Sung by a girl whose name I feel no need to discover, has the words:

Four a.m. in the morning,
Carried away by a moonlight shadow.
I watched your vision forming,
Carried away... etc.

It's one thing to say it, but to record it? (The song was pretty popular too!) Ugh!

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