Armed gunmen, true facts, and other ridiculous nonsense : a compiled compendium of repetitive redundancies

Tautology— A word or group of words that unintentionally repeats its meaning. When was the last time you entered your PIN NUMBER into the ATM MACHINE? Or longed for the PERFECT UTOPIA? Using unnecessary words can make written and spoken language a DISORGANIZED MESS, but it’s not just STUPID IDIOTS who do so. We’re all guilty, and this irreverent collection of tautologies catalogs our most common redundancies and wittily defines them. A FUNNY COMIC, for instance, is “one who’s employed”; a BLACK CROW is “the outcast in those large albino flocks”; and a SURVIVING WIDOW is “the last one standing in an all-widow game of Russian roulette.” Beautifully designed and illustrated with comically apt reproductions by the nineteenth-century artist George Cruikshank, Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense is a welcome antidote to a growing tendency in contemporary usage—and the perfect book for grammarphobes, word geeks, and language lovers alike. Presents A Series Of Tautologies And Redundant Phrases In Common Usage With Humorous Commentary By The Author. Richard Kallan ; [engravings By George Cruikshank]. Includes Index.