What do you call phrases like "circling around", where you state the same fact twice?

Question

Both circling and around mean that you are getting past something round or circular. I know that there are a bunch more phrases like this where both words mean the same thing. I thought there was a specific term for this paradox. Can you tell me what it is and give me more examples of phrases like this, please? Thank you.

Answer 1

Close proximity (kind of a hyperbolic phrase, but makes me laugh when I see it )

http://www.fun-with-words.com/redundant_phrases.html

Pleonasms is the specific definition.

Answer 2

Tautology - the redundant figure; redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice [Ref. 1a & 1b]; repeating the same thought in different words [Ref. 2]; two near-synonyms are placed consecutively or very close together for effect [Ref 5].

Read more, with examples, at:

Ref. 1b - has these: "helpful assistance"; "If you don't get any better, you'll never improve"; "ATM machine", "PIN number", "DC Comics", "PAT testing", "HTML language", "MSDS sheet", "LCD display", "HIV virus", "NIC card", "NT technology", "Gigaflops per second", "RPMs per minute" (or even worse, "RPMs per second", which becomes an oxymoron), "EMP pulse", or "E3 expo".

Ref. 3 - where you'll find these: “If the Sunnis do not support the constitution, that would be very negative.” (Quote: American Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. “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"; Yogi Berra's “You can learn a lot just by observing.” ... "The writing on the Iraqi flag, by the way, means 'God is great.' Which, arguably, qualifies as a tautology." ... “And if we don’t pull out of Iraq, we’ll still be there.”

Ref. 4 - has these: "free gift", "in this day and age", "new innovation", "lonely isolation"

Here, I can only echo radio jock Hillbilly Willy's tautological log-off - "Remember: no matter where you go, there you are!"

Answer 3

Isn't the term double entandra? A comedian you'll all recognize did an entire routine on this topic. My favorite is the hot water heater. If it's hot water, why does it need to be heated?

I guess spell check doesn't do French.

Answer 4

Redundancies. I hear "last and final boarding call" at airports. Let's see: "freezing cold" comes immediately to mind.

Answer 5

redundant