# Is there a word for a combination of words that are redundant,, such as" free gift"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783 "2018-04-20T15:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/1 "2018-04-20T15:14:42Z")
An “oxymoron” is the combination of conflicting words, such as “liberal Republican” or “old news”. Is there a word for a combination of words that are redundant, rather than conflicting, such as “free gift”? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/2 "2018-04-20T15:17:32Z")
Yes. Pleonasm: > **[Pleonasm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm)** > > Pleonasm (/ˈpliːənæzəm/; from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός, pleonasmós, from πλέον, pleon 'to be in excess') is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as "black darkness" or "burning fire". It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria and might be considered a fault of style. Pleonasm may also be used for emphasis, or because the phrase has become established in a certain form. Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. > Most often, pleonas... ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/3 "2018-04-20T15:19:38Z")
Tautology? Don’t start a civil war, now. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/4 "2018-04-20T15:30:21Z")
Redundant tautological pleonasm? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/5 "2018-04-20T17:43:21Z")
Repetitive redundant tautological pleonasm? ---
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2018, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/6 "2018-04-21T10:49:11Z")
Smør på flesk ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/7 "2018-04-23T18:54:51Z")
My fave is “true facts”. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/8 "2018-04-23T20:25:59Z")
Redundancy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/9 "2018-04-23T20:56:09Z")
For lunch, I had a salad with Jumbo Shrimp on it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/10 "2018-04-23T21:54:36Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > For lunch, I had a salad with Jumbo Shrimp on it. 🙂 That’d be the Oxymoron Salad, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/11 "2018-04-23T22:13:12Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’d be the Oxymoron Salad, I take it? Someone on this very board said it wasn’t a Caesar Salad unless you stabbed it 23 times. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-a-combination-of-words-that-are-redundant-such-as-free-gift/812783/12 "2018-04-23T22:20:18Z")
My long-time favorite is “general consensus of opinion”. Which really is saying the “general general consensus of opinion”