Thursday 20 June 2013

Avoid the Scourge of the Tautology Plague

Karl Marx started it off with: “A spectre is haunting Europe: the spectre of communism.” And now people write “the spectre of AIDS” when they just mean “AIDS”.


[Erotic puppeteer] Mr. Binkster has sought to teach the people of Puerto Rico to confront their inner demons, to love and not fear the miasma of sexual energy... (Fox News)

In this sort of auction, one never needs to fear the miasma of bankruptcy or foreclosure. (borhanns.blogspot.com) (It's bankruptcy that one fears.)

Although 7,853,787 bunnies have been destroyed in Australia since the Rabbit Nuisance Act passed, the rabbit plague is on the increase. (Rabbits are on the increase.)

The terrible scourge [the Black Death] killed x million people (Fortean Times, October 2011, paraphrase) The Black Death/epidemic/plague killed etc We know a scourge is something terrible, you don’t need to point it out. And if you tell us that an epidemic killed X million people, you don’t need to say it was a “scourge”.

The rot of corruption went to the top. (Corruption went to the top – corruption is rot.)

Crisis argues that instead of doubling its efforts to end the "scandal" of homelessness, the government is in effect making it impossible for those on low incomes to pay their rent. Guardian August 31, 2011 (Crisis wants to end homelessness, which it thinks is a scandal.)

Save Aduga and her cubs from the threat of extinction. (They mean “from possible extinction”.)

The prospect of war could yet be avoided. (War could etc)

More tautology here, and links to the rest.

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