Weird Word of the Week

I chose Thursdays as my "Weird Word of the Week" day (better than Mondays!); it's a chance to help others apprecite the English language, add to their vocabulary or, more likely, try to get their tongue around a word they will unlikely never use or see again.

For this week, I found a word that describes something we might all be guilty of doing:

pleonasm \ PLEE-un-naz-uhm \ noun:

The use of more words than necessary to express your idea; redundant word usage.

Some examples include:

1. Absolutely essential
2. Advance warning
3. Basic fundamentals
4. Classic traditions
5. Completely (or totally) deaf (blind; empty; full: these things can be partially, but the use of the word 'completely' is redundant)
6. Constant nagging (we all know nagging is constant!)
7. Empty hole
8. Free gift
9. Foreign imports
10. Invited guests
11. Individual person
12. Join together
13. Joint collaboration
14. New discovery
15. Overused cliche
16. Past experience
17. PIN number (personal identification number number; same for ATM machine)
18. Return back (retreat back, revert back).
19. Safe haven
20. Unsolved mystery

Now that I have made you aware of these, I am sure you will appreciate that there are loads more pleonasms in everyday language. See if you can pick up the next time someone uses one!

Happy writing!