Tautology 5

At a decisive crossroads

Tautology combined together in one single place, with a few extra additions. (See what I did there?) (More here.)

Ditch repetitive phrases like transformational change/new innovation/worldwide global firm, says @goodcopybadcopy. (And there's no need to tell us that conflicts are brutal, or tragedies terrible.)
13 different sizes (if two of them were the same as each other, you’d only have 12 sizes etc etc)

a grisly skeleton in its closet (A skeleton in your closet is evidence of a crime you want to conceal. It makes no difference if it’s grisly or cuddly.)

a huge head start (If you’re ahead by a head you’re ahead by a head and most horse’s heads are about the same size. A “head start” doesn’t place you miles ahead of the field.)

a ticking time-bomb about to explode

abiding preoccupation
abject slavery
absolute perfection
added bonus
apocryphal folklore
appalling poisoned chalice: We mustn’t leave behind for our children “an appalling poisoned chalice”. (Prince Charles Times Sep 12 10)

Argentina calls UK “a crude colonial power” for hanging on to the Falklands.

at a decisive crossroads

becalmed in the doldrums

big transcontinental motorways

bloody violence (in Syria)

bodes well for the future (you can’t bode backwards)

brutal axing of the News of the World

brutal/bitter/bloody conflicts (They usually are.)

close proximity
collaborate together
complete monopoly
conspire to create a thick wall of silence (NYT)

continue on, continued all along

cooperate together
could eventually end up

despite persistent denials to the contrary

down: descending down, down to the sea below, hang down, parachuting down, sink down, rain down (No, it doesn’t rain up, etc.)

dysfunctional disaster: the country “seemed like a dysfunctional disaster about to collapse”

entirely new
exploited ruthlessly
extend out

false idolatry: For someone who has spent a career crusading against fakery and false idolatry, Penn Jillette sure is doing a lot of reality TV these days. WSJ Nov 2012 (Do they mean that "reality" TV is actually "fakery"?)

false illusionsfellow classmate
fellow co-workers
fictitious story
fierce riots

fill X full of Y (fill X with Y)

follow behindfor the very first time (This is also baby talk.)

forward planning
free gift
from this moment on
fully insulated
future plans

global world: We have to think about our children in a global world. BBC Breakfast Nov 17 2012

gratuitously unnecessary: It was an act of gratuitous violence that was totally unnecessary (Vicar on Crimewatch Roadshow June 30, 2011) We’re seeing more objects taken from religious churches. (Art squad spokesman, ditto)

hideous racial prejudice: The Commission for Racial Equality recently tried to have Tintin in the Congo banned in the UK for its “words of hideous racial prejudice”. (There isn’t an attractive kind.)

hollow charade
Hopelessly marooned, Shackleton ordered his men onto the ice… (Agatha Christie’s True Crime Inspirations Mike Holgate 2010)

horrible monstrosity

horrible tragedy: “The horrible tragedy is that innocents die.” Tony Blair on the Middle East

horrific carnage, vicious hand-to-hand combat (ad for book about Richard III)

huge juggernaut

inglenook fireplace (An inglenook is a fireplace.)

initial starting point

intermixing
inundated by floods (to inundate is to flood)

Is asteroid mining the next big gold rush?

It would be nice to have the option of an alternative choice.It’s a terrible national embarrassment.It’s got linear lines! (Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Sept 2012)

Jewish rabbi, Jewish synagogue

key stage: in education, stage

lamentable weakness: “the lamentable weakness of the (criminal justice system)”

leader arrogantly refuses to relinquish power (he could at least have done it humbly)

mass rally
Miliband is quite encircled by gurus

new innovations

orbit around

other options: They have run out of other options.

past history (You don’t write the history of the future.)

phenomenal tragedy (of sex abuse in the Catholic church, Catholic commentator on the weekend of the Pope’s visit)

pithy bon mot

pose a real threat/pose a very real threat
potential risk/hazard/danger, a very dangerous fire hazard (Risk, hazard and danger all mean “potential harm”, not the harm itself. Try "extreme fire hazard".)

prestigious prize: awarded the prestigious prize

prior warning

quintessentially iconic

random anarchy: "random anarchy will rule the soulless boulevards." Simon Jenkins predicts the fate of Dubai in the Guardian, 20 March 2009. (Anarchy is not known for its rules and regulations.)

return back: Jimmy has returned back to Australia. (Nothing to Declare)

reverse back
revert back
rural countryside

safe haven
secret plot

seems like a good idea
shares in common with
She was charged with importing prohibited imports and making false misleading statements. (Nothing to Declare)

significant milestone, important milestone: hailed as a significant milestone

Stalin’s toxic curse on his children has finally died with Svetlana. (Simon Sebag Montefiore Dec 2011)

stark contrast

staunch allies: The revolt was led by staunch allies of… (Wikipedia)

strong convictions
strong faith, firm allegiance
strongly deny
sworn enemy, implacable foe
synchronise together

temporary blip

terrible bane, extra lashings: "The present tangle of wires in my living room ... is one of the terrible banes of my life. ... There is something about our times that mean that those who articulate rage with extra lashings of venom have found their hour." Writes Michael Gove in the Times, 11 May 2009.

terrible blood feuds, terrible havoc, terrible prophecy of doom, terrible tragedy, terrible travesty of justice (You get the picture.)

the lamentable weakness of the (criminal justice system)

They share the same name
throughout the whole day
total paragon

transformational change: Bill Bratton, the former US police chief now advising the government on gangs, has told the Guardian he can bring about "transformational" change in the UK. BBC August 15, 2011 (That's like saying "changey change", although "transform" has come to mean "change for the better".)

tricky dilemma
two separate groups
two-way dialogue (A one-way dialogue is a monologue.)

UKIP candidate, Nicholas Wilson "has a keen interest in ensuring that Cambridge is not ruined by misguided overdevelopment".

unprepossessing-looking building (lose the “looking” and avoid strings of ings)

upward ascent
various different rules
visual appearance
vocal songs

More here.

More here, and links to the rest.