Tautology

[Yamahahaha]

This honestly isn't meant to be mean, but I've just read something on another thread which has really tickled me. Someone has described her ex and his new partner as just having had "two baby twins together".

Well obviously there are two of them if they're twins, obviously they are babies if they've just been born, and obviously (by the way it's described) the babies belong to both members of the couple. So of the four words, three are unnecessary.

Just thought that was a rather glorious example of textbook tautology which fellow pedants would appreciate.

Me too. I don't think it's smug or snobby to be genuinely surprised that so many people haven't mastered grammatical rules I distinctly remember learning at the lower end of primary school. (And the small proportion of people who may have had their education disrupted or who have dyslexia does not account for the proliferation of basic errors.)

I haven't seen it for myself "in the wild", but I've read references on Mumsnet to people not knowing how to spell "I" which I really can't fathom.

If I have a chicken that lays 10 eggs to every dozen that your chicken who has more eggs ?
It may say in sources its a acceptable variation but I am going to swap our chickens 😆.

🤣 I might use that one in the future.

It's really shocking isn't it. Admittedly I was in primary school in the early 1960's and we didn't dare not know how to spell or use the correct grammar! I can't believe that anyone doesn't know how to spell "I". Are they confusing it with "aye" perhaps? I'm not sure whether standards have generally fallen off a cliff or whether bad spelling and grammar is now more evident due to social media. I mean, in the past someone's errors would only be seen by a limited few but now they can post to thousands. It's also contagious in that if the reader is already unsure they will assume something posted on the internet (even by a random person) is correct thereby creating a domino effect.

Apparently some people are writing "A" instead of "I", which I imagine is related to certain regional accents.

I agree with the contagion effect. I think some people only ever read social media and never read a book or any properly edited print media (although it's not hard to find mistakes in published sources these days, especially the misuse of I/myself).

When I’m typing quickly on my phone I often comes out as Ai. I probably miss-hit the shift key. But Ai sort of makes sense if you read it like Hyacinth Bucket. I’m so often tempted to leave it, but my inner pedant will not permit this 😜

Oh god yes, "myself". It makes me want to scream! I think it's become so prevalent now (I've actually seen so called respected journalists using it) that it will become an accepted construction.

Either Hyacinth Bucket (RIP) or MLE!

I really don't see why it's so difficult. No-one says, "it belongs to I," and "myself" is simply reflexive or for emphasis, not a "polite" way to say "me". It's not rocket science.

Asda used to advertise
”Permanently low prices, forever.”

My school English teacher was sent into apoplexy whenever she encountered it. Frequent vitriolic ranting on this crime against language left me with an enduring horror of tautology.

Tautology is a permitted stylistic device for dramatic emphasis.

The example in the OP, however, is so outstandingly, egregiously awful (see what I did) as to be stylistically unacceptable.

‘Free gift’ is another one.

Hahaha!! Hilariously, side-splittingly funny. 😉

Kills all known germs dead.

Pedant5corner · Today 14:04
Kills all known germs dead

Excellent!

Train announcements are a good source: all personal belongings; next station stop.

Our local line announces “please move backwards to exit the train”. Sounds dangerous if there’s a large gap or a step down …

How very bizarre. What do they actually want passengers to do?

It's probably one of those trains that is longer than the platform. So, in order to get off safely, passengers need to move to the rear of the train to exit onto a platform.