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Tuesday
23Aug

Negative Sunnis Are Not Very Positive

DateTuesday, August 23, 2005 at 08:36AM

Iraq_flag_large.pngQuote:   “If the Sunnis do not support the constitution, that would be very negative.”  American Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad

Figure of Speech:   tautology (taw TAH low gee), the redundant figure

“Negative” means “bad” in diplomatese.  If the Sunnis say no to the draft Iraq constitution, that would certainly be negative.  But since “no” and “negative” mean the same thing, the ambassador commits a tautology—repeating the same thought in different words. 

“Free gift.”  “New innovation.”  “Violent battle.”  All around, we’re surrounded by tautologies.  (Sorry.)  Yogi Berra turned the figure into an unconscious art form:  “You can learn a lot just by observing.”  Most of the time, though, the tautology is a pair of twins (whoops!) who are too close for comfort.

The writing on the Iraqi flag, by the way, means “God is great.”  Which, arguably, qualifies as a tautology.

Snappy Answer:   “And if we don’t pull out of Iraq, we’ll still be there.”

Got a snappier answer?  Email Figaro.

AuthorFigaro | Comment4 Comments |

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Reader Comments (4)

would 'uncommonly rare' qualify as a tautology?
February 26, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSimon Giles
That depends on whom you ask, but since you asked Figaro, the answer is no. It's a mere redundancy. A true tautology has logic chasing its own tail: it uses the conclusion to prove the conclusion.

Fig.
February 26, 2007 | Registered CommenterFigaro
actually twins come in more than pears... now what kind of rhetorical device did I just use? or did I even just use one?
April 15, 2007 | Unregistered Commenterniceoboe
well now that I think about it that would be a pointless/nonsensical pun...
April 15, 2007 | Unregistered Commenterniceoboe

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