Negative Sunnis Are Not Very Positive

Quote:   “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.

Comments

[Simon Giles]

would 'uncommonly rare' qualify as a tautology?

[Figaro]

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.

[niceoboe]

actually twins come in more than pears... now what kind of rhetorical device did I just use? or did I even just use one?

[niceoboe]

well now that I think about it that would be a pointless/nonsensical pun...

[David]

"Safe haven" is a tautological phrase that I'm aware of, and detest, but what about "potentially dangerous"? If something has the potential to harm then it's dangerous. So what does "potentially dangerous" mean?

[Jay]

Currently now.....................first initial reaction..........................unthaw the food...............advanced warning................true fact..........................very first...................and finally, "plus, as an extra added bonus, a free gift at no charge to you!".

[Keith]

How about 100% Perfect? It couldn't be less than 100% surely?

[the jar]

Alice to Bob: Truth be told...
Bob to Alice: Tell the truth
Alice to Bob: I just did.

[Guest]

I disagree. You presume beforehand that supporting the constitution is Good. That is a political choice, not an inherent meaning of the wording. Say, if the topic were a war (which is not Good per se, I assume), not a constitution, the Ambassador would still add information, not speaking a tautology.

About "God is great": the words do not mean the same, so no tautology at all there. Or maybe it is, in another way. Like when defining: "2 plus 2 is 4". That is when we *need* a tautology! My dictionary *only* has tautologies.

[jake]

nope - this is not a tautology. My goodness, not even close.

[harley]

what about Oh! is this considered a tautology?

[Ed]

A tautology is anything that is tautological.

[David]

"You can learn a lot by just observing" isn't a tautology. Observing does not imply learning, since learning involves not only the intake of information, but the processing and, most importantly, retention of it. "And if we don't pull out of Iraq, we'll still be there" is spot on, though.

[Murakami]

One of the best examples of Tautology which is seen everyday: Gender.
What makes you a man? By "being" a man. By acting like a man, you are a man.

[Close proximity]

Final upshot

[vlasik_pickle]

Reading this whole page, it seems people are lumping rhetorical tautologies together with grammatical tautologies. The two are very different.

[John]

I don't see the example given as being a tautology, simply because Sunni failure to support the constitution, when viewed by someone else, might be regarded as somewhat or not so negative (as opposed to "very negative"), neutral or even positive.

Thus, the word "negative" in the context merely describes of one of several potential outcomes of Sunni inaction, so I fail to see how it qualifies as being tautological in the strictest sense.

[Gee Dee Pee]

No matter where you go, there you are.
.. from an old friend of mine!

[Wiki]

The ambassadors statement can be rephrased as "If the X says no to Y, that would be bad." You have tried to call this a tautology, but it's not. It's only a tautology by equivocation. If you need to change the intended definition of words to pull out the meaning you would prefer, you have equivocated. Which is not a tautology, it's another, only slightly less obvious failure of logic.

[Victor]

The Yogi Berra quote was "You can observe a lot just by watching." which may qualify as a tautology.