We only hear half of what we listen to. Perhaps that is why most people instinctively use tautology when they write or speak. Tautology is the use of different words to say the same thing or repeating the same thing twice, often in the same sentence, using different words. Most people don’t even know that they’re doing it. Tautology clutters otherwise simple communication.

Mark Twain made entertaining and sarcastic use of tautology. His most famous example is “Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” A tautology is usually considered an undesirable flaw in communication; an unnecessary waste of time and words. Perhaps some of you caught the tautology in the preceding sentence. They make you sound wordier than you need to be. In most cases, a tautology involves just a few words that mean the same thing. For example, “I went to see him personally” contains an extra and unnecessary word because the adverb “personally” repeats the idea already expressed in the single word “I”. However, a tautology occasionally helps to add emphasis or clarity, or introduce intentional ambiguity. Adding the word “personally” might be intended to emphasize that the speaker’s action in going to see him is most unusual and significant in and of itself. However, usually it’s best to choose just one way to state your meaning and eliminate the extra words.

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