Why do we use redundancies?

Question

Like in: I'm "positively certain"; I have "true facts"; this is "past history"; we have the "end result"
Just curious.

Answer 1

In your case, "Positively Certain" is the only real redundancy.

"True facts" could imply that there was a set of "facts" presented as true but was not.

"Past history" could be used to distinguish between "Recent History" so would not be redundant but rather a degree of history.

"End Result" indicates the last if a set of results, the "End Result" being the final desired answer.

In the case of "Positively Certain" you can leave out either "Positively" or "Certain" and still maintain the structure of the sentence. In fact that is how you will know if you're using a redundancy.

People may use a redundancy to emphasize a point. It is not good English and usually makes the speaker or writer appear uneducated. I would never recommend using this type of redundancy in writing or speech.

Answer 2

There does seem to appear to be the excessive use of redundancies but I'm not sure as to why or the reason for it.

Answer 3

I can't agree with HarshawJ. Your 4 examples certainly are all redundancies. As to why we do it, well me myself personally I think it's just to add emphasis! (Yes, yes, I know.)

Answer 4

Not sure. I hear this one a lot....... A tiny subcentimeter blah, blah, blah..... I always thought that a subcentimeter was tiny, so why would we put tiny in front of it? This seems redundant to me.

Answer 5

Redundancies, oxy-morons, hackneyed expressions, truisms et al... all are tools available to people who unconciously communicate their inabilities to communicate.

Answer 6

because so many people are so stupid that you have to say things over and over and over again.

Answer 7

to add emphasize